Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum might have the first endorsement deal in NBA history with a painkiller. The St. Louis native infamously tore his Achilles tendon vs. the New York Knicks in the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals, and was able to have groundbreaking surgery that may position him to return at record pace soon after he went down against the Knicks.
But the pain medicine Tatum got after the operation was an opioid that reportedly bothered him, spurring his doctors to prescribe a painkiller called Journavx that claims to be non-addictive and highly effective, per an interview in People magazine this week. Tatum recently talked about that medicine and his subsequent use of that painkiller (and how he became a spokesperson for it) on an episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today,” relating that “it’s been a long, long journey” (h/t Blazer Banter’s Erik Garcia Gundersen).
“I just always reflect on surgery, and then you get your stitches out, and then you get your boot. And then at four weeks, you’re 50% weight-bearing,” added the former Blue Devil.
“Part of the reason I’m here is to announce my partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals,” continued the Celtics star. “It was a period where, at four weeks, I was introducing new things and starting to feel some discomfort and some pain.”
“That’s when I had a conversation with my doctor, and we went through my medical history,” he added, sounding every bit the protagonist in a drug commercial soon to be followed by a quieter voice speaking about potential adverse effects at a much faster rate.
Ar least, as others have noted in jest, we won’t have to worry about this popping up as a “no-show” job in some future league investigation.
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