The Boston Celtics are currently gearing up for the unofficial second half of the NBA season after the conclusion of the All-Star break. The Celtics have been playing some excellent basketball, especially considering that they have been without star Jayson Tatum this season as he recovers from a torn Achilles.
There has been immense speculation in recent weeks that Tatum could return as soon as this season, which would be one of the quickest Achilles recoveries that the league has ever seen, which was further fueled when the league moved an upcoming Celtics home game against the Philadelphia 76ers onto national TV without explanation.
Now, Tatum has taken to X, formerly Twitter, to mark a new milestone in his recovery process.
“40 weeks,” wrote Tatum alongside a prayer emoji on the social media platform. “I’ve really grown to appreciate this journey I’ve been on and allow time for me to pat myself on the back for showing up everyday!”
Tatum suffered his Achilles injury during Game 4 of last year's semifinals series against the New York Knicks, which Boston wound up losing in six games, already on the verge of going down 3-1 by the time Tatum was sidelined.
This year, Jaylen Brown has been playing at a borderline MVP level for the Celtics, and Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have shaken off rough starts to the year to help provide some explosive scoring for the team.
Meanwhile, the Boston brass recently made a win-now move by sending Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Nikola Vucevic at the NBA trade deadline, shoring up the team's biggest weakness in the process.
If Tatum is indeed able to come back this year, many would likely view the Celtics as the favorites to come out of the East in the spring.
Boston's season is set to resume on Thursday with a road game against the Golden State Warriors.
