Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is on the verge of returning to the court and could make his season debut on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks. Tatum, who is officially listed as questionable on the team’s injury report, has not played since tearing his right Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the Celtics’ second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks last May.
Tatum has been described as “ready to go,” according to ESPN, and he and the team will make a final decision on his status for Friday night in short order.
Whether Tatum plays on Friday or pushes his debut until later this month, it’s clear that he’s going to return this season, which is great news for the Celtics and the NBA, but not so great news for other Eastern Conference contenders.
Tatum slightly ahead of schedule
The only silver lining of Tatum’s injury was that it happened in New York City. As a result, he was able to undergo surgery the next day, which gave him a much better long-term prognosis.
“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.”
The average return timeline for a torn Achilles tendon in the NBA is about 10 months, per athletic trainer and injury analyst Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com. However, in recent years, several star players have sat out much longer, including Kevin Durant, who did not play for 18 months after tearing his Achilles in the 2019 Finals.
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Tatum’s injury occurred on May 12, 2025, a week shy of 10 months ago, putting him right on track for the average return period but ahead of schedule compared to high-profile recent cases.
‘Am I ever gonna play again?’
In “The Quiet Work,” Tatum spoke openly about how difficult the injury and the rehab have been for him.
“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.
When Tatum first arrived home from the surgery, he had to crawl up his front steps and needed help standing up. “I had never been in that position before,” he said. There are clips of him using a walker to get around the Celtics’ facility, and lamenting how hard it was for him to simply take a shower.
For as long and frustrating as the process has been, however, he also received positive news along the way.
“You’re as good as anyone has ever been,” O’Malley said about Tatum’s recovery six weeks after his surgery. “I’m confident you’re gonna go back and be Jayson Tatum the way you were before. You’re a young guy, your calf looks great.”
“I ain’t come back to be no role player, doc,” Tatum replied.
Ramping up his rehab
In recent weeks, Tatum stepped up his rehab.
Before the Celtics’ game against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons in late January, Tatum went through an hour-long workout at shootaround in front of the Boston media. In early February, Tatum was assigned to the Celtics’ G League team, the Maine Celtics, to practice with the team. More recently, he stepped up to playing five-on-five with the Celtics.
Derrick White told The Athletic on Wednesday that Tatum “looks good.”
“Playing, moving, it’s been good to see him back and getting up and down,” White said. “So, you kind of see all the work he’s put in to get to this point, and it’s been great to see him be able to do what he loves to do.”
No gap year in Boston
Tatum will rejoin a team that has wildly exceeded expectations in his absence. Despite a loss to the surging Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, the Celtics remain in second place in the Eastern Conference at 41-21, and have the second-best offense (119.9 offensive rating) in the league.
The Celtics have 20 games remaining in the regular season, which ends April 12, ahead of the playoffs on April 18.
Tatum is not going to look like his usual self upon his return, and may not at all this season. But by coming back with five weeks remaining in the regular season, he’ll have some time to get his legs back under him and find a rhythm ahead of the playoffs.
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