Celtics
“Thankful for all the love and support."
Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum reacts after scoring a 3-point basket during the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in New York.
Jayson Tatum already underwent surgery on his torn Achilles. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
By Conor Ryan
May 14, 2025 | 2:37 PM
2 minutes to read
A day after going under the knife to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, Jayson Tatum took to social media to salute all of the well wishes that have come his way.
“Thankful for all the love and support,” the Celtics superstar forward captioned on a photo of himself in a hospital bed, giving a thumbs up with his right leg heavily casted.
The Celtics announced that Tatum underwent the surgery on Tuesday to repair the ruptured tendon — less than 24 hours after the 27-year-old forward suffered the injury during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Knicks.
“No timetable is currently available for his return, but he is expected to make a full recovery,” the Celtics noted in their team release about Tatum’s procedure. “Further updates will be provided when appropriate.”
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It’s unclear just how long Tatum will be sidelined for, although there’s a legitimate chance that the All-NBA talent could be ruled out for the entire 2025-26 season — standing as a devastating setback for a Celtics team already bracing for plenty of changes this offseason.
Even though Suns star Kevin Durant has largely regained his form as one of the top scorers in the league since tearing his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals, he was sidelined for nearly 18 months.
After Durant first went down with his injury in June 2019, he missed the entire 2019-20 season before only playing in 35 games during the 2020-21 season with the Nets.
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“According to a league source, the injury was confirmed when Tatum underwent testing Tuesday morning and the decision was made to operate immediately because swift action following Achilles’ injuries tends to lead to more favorable outcomes,” Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe wrote on Tuesday. “The source added that complications during these procedures are common, so the Celtics were encouraged when Tatum emerged from surgery with no further issues.”
Even though Tatum’s age (27) and Durant’s own recovery offers hope that Tatum will be able to regain his form as one of the league’s top players in 2026-27, Dr. Atsushi Endo, an orthopedic surgeon at Tufts Medical Center, told The Boston Globe’s Camilo Fonseca that Tatum is still facing a long road to recovery.
“You’ll need to use crutches for two weeks, then you’ll be in a medical boot for for at least a month, or a little longer,” Dr. Endo said. “So you can walk on your own without any medical device after usually two months.
“Then you can start doing some . . . sports specific [exercises]. … Because of the injury and how it happens, a non-contact type injury, there are a lot of mental obstacles that need to be overcome as players get back on the court, so they’re not playing in fear of that.”
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The Celtics — sans Tatum — will look to keep their season alive on Wednesday when they host the Knicks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at TD Garden. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
“We’re grown men,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “Who hasn’t had injuries? It’s a part of this sport, part of this game. And we feel for him, of course. But we have to move forward. He doesn’t want us to be sad and not playing our best basketball. So we’re going to go out there and leave it all out there and live with the results.”
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Conor Ryan
Sports Writer
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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