BOSTON — After Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum suffered a devastating Achilles injury in May during the 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinals, he could’ve checked out. Instead, he immediately went under the knife in New York City and started his recovery.
When the Celtics began to roll without him, going an impressive 41-21 and moving into second place in the East while he was sidelined and busy rehabbing, Tatum could’ve checked out again — and, at worst, felt jealous of his team’s success. Instead, the six-time All-Star attended almost every game, traveled with the team, and cheered on his teammates from the bench.
While living the day-to-day life of a Celtic without playing didn’t help Tatum recover physically, it worked wonders for his mind. In fact, following his season debut in a 120-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, Tatum said that watching the Celtics battle and win made him yearn to join them.
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In short, he was inspired by their joy.
“The joy and competitive nature that they displayed — I wanted to be a part of that,” he revealed in his postgame press conference.
On Thursday, just ahead of Celtics-Mavericks, Tatum spoke to the team. He opened up about the struggles of returning to play and, most importantly, explained how all of his overachieving teammates aided his comeback.
“Just being vulnerable, showing my appreciation to the team of how they have played this season, how they motivated me every single day,” Tatum described of that conversation. “So, I really just kind of told everybody in the room that they all played a part in, essentially, helping me get to this moment. And I was just very thankful for that.”
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The “moment” went just about as well as Celtics fans could’ve realistically hoped for. Although Tatum got off to a tough shooting start, missing his first 6 field goal attempts, he still looked healthy and was able to hang with everybody else on the court.
He really began to find his footing down the stretch, converting on 4 of his 8 field goals in the last two quarters, including a corner 3-pointer in the third frame that sent the TD Garden crowd into a frenzy:
Tatum finished the blowout win with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists in 27 minutes of play. The star forward was met with thunderous applause when he finally checked out and he was embraced by his coaches and teammates — the same people who reminded him that he wasn’t alone in his journey back to the parquet.
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“I say it all the time, going through rehab and being injured is lonely,” Tatum admitted. “So you feel isolated, in a sense, but I just expressed that being around as much as possible, going to games, being on the plane, really made me feel like I was still very much a part of the team, and (I expressed) how thankful to the group of just being themselves, that I was.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla shared a similar sentiment postgame, arguing that wins and losses can become isolating if a team isn’t close and working through obstacles — such as Tatum’s injury — together.
“For me personally, to be around people that go through those things, I think that’s why you coach,” Mazzulla said of Tatum’s lengthy rehab process. “You’re in it to go after stuff, together with people, and to be a part of someone else’s story and someone to be a part of yours…I think if at the end of the day you have a bunch of wins but you don’t have the relationship with the guys, then that’s pretty empty.”
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The Celtics will need to stick together in order to achieve great things, especially over their next stretch of games. They’ll now embark on a three-game road trip that features tough contests with the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, and reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Coming back from an Achilles injury is an extreme challenge itself, and Boston’s level of competition over the next week only exacerbates that mental and physical toil. However, Tatum is not on his own. He has his teammates, coaches, and inner circle who will be with him every step of the way.
“I still got a long way to go,” Tatum stated. “But this was a really big step for me.”
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Watching teammates and coaches succeed motivated Jayson Tatum to come back for Celtics