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Jayson Tatum Sends Strong Message After Heartwarming Celtics Gesture

Jayson Tatum is spending the offseason recovering from a torn Achilles tendon he suffered in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. And yet, he’s remained as busy as ever, as he helped the Boston Celtics give back to the community on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Tatum attended the New England Patriots’ joint training camp practice with the Washington Commanders, where he was notably walking without a boot. Later that night, he was in attendance for popular hip-hop artist Lil Wayne’s concert at the Xfinity Center.

The fun didn’t end there for Tatum, though. On Thursday, he teamed up with the Celtics and Amica to celebrate an early education center that is being built in Providence, Rhode Island. At the event, Tatum sent a strong message on the importance of early education.

“[This community] deserves the opportunity, the resources, and to have the access on early education to set them up for success,” Tatum said, per CLNS.

Tatum starred for Boston once again last season, averaging 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and six assists per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. He appeared to be poised to help the team attempt to defend their 2024 NBA Finals championship, only to have suffered his aforementioned injury.

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So far this offseason, Tatum has been attacking his Achilles injury rehab, which usually takes somewhere between 10-12 months to recover from. The early signs have been encouraging, as is that fact that Tatum has remained busy this offseason, even though he can’t get any work in on the court right now.

While the initial expectation was that Tatum would be forced to miss the entire 2025-26 campaign, there’s hope that he could make a return late in the season. Whether or not that’s plausible remains to be seen, but Tatum appears to be making some great progress early in the offseason, which is precisely what Celtics fans were hoping to see.

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