Celtics
Most players who suffer a ruptured Achilles typically miss a whole calendar year, but Tatum could be looking to return to play sooner than that.
Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in his right leg in the Celtics' Game 4 loss to the Knicks. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
By Conor Roche
May 17, 2025 | 4:10 PM
2 minutes to read
Jayson Tatum has a long and uncertain road ahead of him as he recovers from his ruptured Achilles. However, he’s looking at one of the success stories of a star athlete’s rehab from an Achilles tear and hoping he can have a similar road to recovery.
The Celtics star is expected to use Kevin Durant’s rehab from his Achilles injury in 2019 as a template and will consult the NBA all-time great during the process, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
“One prime example of a tremendous rehab from an Achilles tear is Kevin Durant,” Charania said on ESPN’s “NBA Countdown.” “Both surgeries were quick. Kevin Durant had his two days after suffering the Achilles tear. Jayson Tatum had his one day after suffering his Achilles tear. Both happened at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
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“The expectation around Tatum is that he’ll consult with Kevin Durant about that rehab that Kevin Durant had several years ago and that’s going to be used as a template because Durant made the best recovery of a player from this injury.”
As Charania noted, Durant’s return from his Achilles tear in 2019 has been viewed as the gold standard in the rehab of an injury that has a history of derailing careers. Durant’s continued to score at a high level in the five seasons since he returned from the Achilles tear, averaging 27.9 points per game over the last five years.
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Durant missed the entire 2019-20 season after tearing his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals that June. There had been some hope that he could’ve returned when the NBA resumed play following the COVID-19 pause in the summer of 2020, but he ruled himself out as he felt he wasn’t “ready for that type of intensity.” Durant eventually returned to play when the 2020-21 season opened in December 2020, marking an 18-month absence.
"I'm told that the expectation around [Jayson] Tatum is that he will consult with Kevin Durant about that rehab that [KD] had several years ago and that's gonna be used as a template."
Shams on how JT will approach his rehab from an Achilles injury.pic.twitter.com/Izc4L2QY7T
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 16, 2025
There are a couple of things that might help Tatum return to the court sooner than Durant. First, he’s younger (27) than Durant was (30) at the time of his Achilles tears. The other is that Tatum had his Achilles operation sooner than Durant’s, going under the knife less than 24 hours after he suffered the tear. Those who undergo Achilles surgery sooner rather than later tend to have more favorable outcomes in their rehab process, The Boston Globe‘s Adam Himmelsbach reported earlier in the week.
Tatum’s father, Justin Tatum, also expressed some hope that his son could return in less than a year after the surgery. He told ESPN’s Marc Spears that Tatum expects to be out eight to nine months. That timeline would make Tatum potentially available to return sometime in January or February 2026.
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Still, that would be a relatively quick return to play from an Achilles tear. Most NBA players who had the injury were sidelined for more than a calendar year, with Kobe Bryant being one of the few exceptions.
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