A recent workout video showing Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum looking a little bit like his old self before the Achilles injury was circulating around social media, and making Celtics fans pine for his return. There’s been no official word as to whether or not the Celtics expect Tatum to suit up this season, but he revealed recently that he thought he might be forced into retirement at one point.
During a recent episode of ‘The Pivot Podcast,’ Jayson Tatum admitted that among his first thoughts following his injury was if he was going to be forced into retirement or not.
“Sitting in that doctor’s office, and seeing the doctor put that MRI scan and seeing that, line through my tendon, I just remember sitting there and I broke down crying,” Tatum said. “And I remember saying like, ‘man, I can’t do this.’ Because I just knew how hard it was going to be. And I felt like this was the best version of Jayson Tatum has ever been. And now it’s like, ‘damn, I got to start over.’ And I remember saying, ‘I can’t do this.’”
“And you know, it took time. It was a few weeks where I thought about like, ‘damn did I make enough money, did I accomplish enough,’” Tatum continued. “Like it was some moments like laying in my house with my foot up where I thought like, ‘damn, I might be done.’”
Tatum admitted that it was his mother who helped him get back on track and realize that he could continue his NBA career following the injury.
During last season’s playoff run before the Achilles, Tatum was averaging 28.1 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals with splits of 42.3 percent shooting from the field, 37.2 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 88.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Tatum suffered the injury during the Celtics’ Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New York Knicks.
