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With the disastrous season-ending injury to Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum in their Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks, there are now questions about when a possible return will take place. While there has been even trade speculation around the Celtics because of the injury, there are many reasons to believe that won't happen, despite how long it'll take for Tatum to come back.
In a recent piece by Kevin Pelton of ESPN, he discussed Tatum's injury and the probability of when he will return, as it's important to remember that the Boston forward suffered a rupture of his right Achilles tendon. Pelton would speak about how there hasn't been a player that returned earlier than 10 and a half months after the fact, saying a return during the 2026 postseason is viable, though it is unprecedented.
“No NBA player since Jose Juan Barea in 2019 has returned sooner than 10½ months after an Achilles rupture, suggesting the Celtics should plan on Tatum missing the entire 2025-26 regular season,” Pelton wrote. “A postseason return is more realistic, but there's basically no precedent for that.”
“The only NBA player I could find who returned from a season-long injury in the playoffs was Larry Krystkowiak with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1991, when he came back from an ACL repair to play three games and total two points,” Pelton continued. “Although Krystkowiak was a starter before the injury, the stakes weren't quite the same as with an All-NBA first teamer.”
Celtics should be prepared for Jayson Tatum not to play next season?
With the injury to the Celtics' star in Tatum set to shake up the NBA, the immediate question of the team is in major flux, with them down 3-1 in the series to the New York Knicks. As the hope to repeat as champions is on the back burner for fans, the basketball world is questioning when Tatum can return, and judging by history, Pelton discusses if Boston should be prepared for him not to play at all next season.
“Postseason returns were discussed when both Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson suffered injuries in the 2019 NBA Finals, but neither came to pass,” Pelton said. “The Golden State Warriors' 2019-20 season was long over by the time Thompson was cleared — he later suffered a subsequent Achilles rupture in a pickup game that offseason. Durant, meanwhile, opted not to join the Brooklyn Nets for the bubble restart in the summer of 2020 and returned a year and a half after his Achilles rupture at the start of the 2020-21 campaign.”
“Based on that history, Boston might want to approach 2025-26 as if Tatum won't play at all, even in the playoffs,” Pelton continued. “That dramatically changes the thinking for a team that has won 15 playoff series in the seven years since drafting Tatum No. 3 in 2018.”
At any rate, Boston looks to shock the basketball world and extend the series for Game 5, which is on Wednesday night. It remains to be seen how drastically the team changes this summer with the financial situation and Tatum's injury.
