The Boston Celtics playing strong basketball over the past month has made the story of Jayson Tatum’s potential return even more relevant. Tatum suffered a brutal Achilles injury at the end of the team’s second-round series against the New York Knicks last postseason. Boston suffered double the pain of an elimination and the fear of losing Tatum for a full season.
However, it appears that Tatum’s hard work could see him realistically returning to the court this season. Various reports have shown Tatum working hard at practice and rehab over the past couple of months with a goal in mind. NBA insider Chris Haynes revealed that Tatum gave him more confirmation about the optimistic approach fans have hoped to become reality.
“He told me he’s coming back this season,” Haynes revealed from his conversation with Tatum.
A superstar of Tatum’s level bluntly saying he’s coming back is a strong statement to take seriously. Tatum’s positive progress and Boston’s overachieving may be the perfect storm to have him return ahead of another Celtics postseason run.
Why Jayson Tatum Wants To Return
Most players in Tatum’s situation from past seasons have missed a full year of action before they return to NBA games. Boston reportedly had no expectations for Tatum to do anything official until next season. The Celtics losing Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis also showed they were content with having a gap year before contending again once Tatum was back.
Boston has gone 10-4 in their past fourteen games after having a difficult start to the season to change the vision. Head coach Joe Mazzulla has started to develop new role players behind Jaylen Brown’s superstar play. The Eastern Conference being weaker than ever means that many teams will have larger dreams than usual since it’s wide open.
Tatum clearly wants to return for his own pride and passion for the game, but the team looking good is likely a bigger factor now. The Celtics’ trajectory has changed due to the team play proving they can be a top three seed in the East. Tatum returning and looking anywhere near his usual level of greatness makes them contenders to make the NBA Finals.
Jayson Tatum Must Convince Boston
Celtics President Brad Stevens recently revealed that Tatum must go through an extensive process before he can get cleared to return. The long schedule shows that many steps are still needed and must go well before Tatum gets to play on an NBA court again.
“There’s strength thresholds he has to meet. And then after that, several weeks of progressions from the standpoints of scripted against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in 5-on-5, unscripted random, all the way up through those,” Stevens said.
Time will tell if Tatum is able to get through all these steps and continue building his health back up to play at a high level. Brown looking like a potential top ten player in the league during Tatum’s absence also makes it easier for him to share the workload once back. Boston might have to flip the switch with Brown as 1A and Tatum as 1B options once the latter is back.
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