Jayson Tatum has been sidelined during the opening months of the 2025-26 NBA season. The Boston Celtics superstar is out with a torn Achilles tendon. He suffered the injury during the 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinals loss to the New York Knicks.
In recent weeks, Tatum’s camp has been uploading videos of his rehab work to social media. Those videos began with stationary work such as dunking and dribbling. However, lately, they’ve progressed to step-back jumpers and light one-on-one activity.
As you would expect, those videos have led some Celtics fans to begin dreaming of a potential in-season return for Tatum. However, according to a recent Boston Globe article by Adam Himmelsbach, no decision has been made on whether Tatum will suit up during the current campaign.
“Within the organization he continues to indicate that he would like to return this season,” Himmeslbach reported. “It probably falls somewhere between possible and likely, but a league source stressed that the team remains several steps away from even considering the decision.”
Ensuring Tatum’s long-term health has to be the priority for the Celtics. Losing their star player for an entire season will hurt. However, losing him for additional time because he came back too early would be catastrophic.
Blake Griffin Doesn’t Think Tatum Should Play
During a recent conversation with Daniel Donabedian of ClutchPoints, former Celtics forward Blake Griffin shared his concerns with bringing Tatum back into the rotation this season.
“There’s a lot of information on Achilles and all other sorts of injuries, but especially Achilles injuries, where, the longer you wait — like, yes, you may be able to play within, call it 10 months,” Griffin said. “But does 16 months give you a much better chance at not re-injuring and not injuring something else? And I think the data on that is very clear. As good and as much fun as the Celtics are to watch this season, as good as they’ve been, I don’t know that if I was advising him — I don’t know that I would be like, ‘Yeah, you got to get back this year.’”
When healthy, Tatum is among the best players in the world. However, being medically cleared is far different from being at your best. If Tatum does return this season, he will face a gruelling ramp-up, which may add additional stress to his body. He could be better served sitting out the season and getting ready for the 2026-27 campaign.
The Celtics Have Been Playing Well Without Tatum
Despite Tatum’s absence, the Celtics are currently third in the Eastern Conference. If Joe Mazzulla’s roster can sustain its current production, it will be a playoff team at the end of the season.
Still, nobody is expecting the Celtics, as currently constructed, to challenge for a championship. Therefore, the need to bring Tatum back is limited. Sure, he would raise the team’s ceiling, but not enough so that they’re among the serious contenders in the NBA.
With all this in mind, Boston could decide to sit their superstar and allow him to continue his recovery. It might not be a popular decision, but it could be the right one. Whatever the team decides to do, it will be with Tatum’s best interests in mind.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Celtics’ Insider Casts Doubt on Jayson Tatum In-Season Return appeared first on Heavy Sports.