After rupturing his right Achilles tendon less than a year ago, Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum is set to make his season debut.
According to ESPN, Tatum will officially be listed in the starting lineup ahead of the Celtics for the first time this season as the Celtics take on the Dallas Mavericks.
When Tatum suffered the injury, he was able to get surgery the next day in New York City, which put him ahead of schedule.
“There’s pretty strong data that if you do [Achilles surgery] within 24 hours [of injury], patients have better outcomes,” Tatum’s surgeon, Dr. Martin O’Malley, said in Tatum’s docuseries, “The Quiet Work.”
Elsewhere in the series, Tatum spoke candidly about the emotional devastation of the injury and how challenging going to rehab six days a week.
“I was shocked, and I was scared. It just felt like everything just kinda flashed before my eyes,” Tatum said. “Everything that I did in my career, and for that moment, it felt like it came to an end. It was heartbreaking. I just couldn’t help but think, ‘Am I ever gonna play again?’ To be honest, at that point, I ain’t had no hope.”
“I always was optimistic, I always felt like I could overcome anything, but this was different,” he added in a later episode.
Coach Joe Mazzulla said that he always expected Tatum to return.
“We always knew he was coming back this year,” Mazzulla said Friday. “I think I knew that when he decided to have surgery within 16 hours … whatever the case was.”
“I mean, it wasn’t a thousand percent sure,” Mazzulla added, “but I knew it was going to do everything possible to be in position to make a decision to come back.”
TATUM REMAINS ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE LEAGUE
After being drafted third overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, Tatum has become one of the premier faces of the NBA. He was named to five All-NBA teams (four of which are First Team) and eight All-Star squads.
Tatum has won two Olympic Gold Medals (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024) and was the inaugural winner of the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP in 2022.
