Celtics Analyst Throws Cold Water On Jayson Tatum Return

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum generated a boatload of buzz on Wednesday when he appeared on a handful of talk shows and revealed that he has a specific “goal” in mind for a return. Fans and analysts interpreted Tatum’s remarks to mean that he’s potentially on schedule to play in NBA games at some point late in 2025-26.

Basketball is better when Tatum is healthy, so it makes sense that JT’s comments caused a universal wave of optimism on social media, with reactions ranging from people worrying about Tatum rushing back, to moderate hopes that he can be back for the 2026 playoffs, and even one hilariously bogus claim about a clean bill of health by November.

Great news for Jayson Tatum post-Achilles.

I personally think November / December is realistic, maybe they wait until January. https://t.co/QODv0tZXiL

— Jesse Morse, M.D. (@DrJesseMorse) September 23, 2025

While we’re pretty sure Tatum won’t be dunking on people by Thanksgiving, it’s worth noting that he has a real chance at one of the speediest recoveries in the history of Achilles tears, for three reasons.

One, Tatum had surgery within literal hours of the injury (a notable advantage in terms of recovery timeline). Two, sports medicine has never been more advanced than it is right now. And three, Tatum, who hates missing games as much or more than any star in NBA basketball, has been working his butt off to rehab his way back.

This is all music to Celtics fans’ ears, provided Tatum doesn’t rush anything, but at the same time, isn’t it possible that everyone’s overreacting to yesterday’s comments? At the end of the day, we’re still dealing with a torn Achilles, an injury that has ended entire careers on plenty of occasions in the past, across all different sports.

In that vein, CLNS Media’s John Zannis served as a much-needed balancing act on Wednesday with a take on Tatum that ran contrary to all of the over-excitement:

Naturally he's gonna say he wants to return as soon as possible, but the chances of Jayson Tatum playing this season are between 0.0 and 0.0000001. https://t.co/1Lyn8OkQa2

— John Zannis (@John_Zannis) September 23, 2025

Zannis’s stance may have even been too severe in the other direction, but ultimately, someone needed to stand up and settle everyone down.

Tatum deserved the spotlight yesterday, and it’s obvious that having a “goal” in mind — however lofty — is what’s helping JT overcome the mental crisis of rehab.

At the same time, the Celtics and Tatum would be irresponsible to approach 2025-26 as anything else other than a Tatum-less experience.