The Latest Jayson Tatum Recovery Update Has Dropped And It Will Take Your Brain To Dangerous Places

Jason Miller. Getty Images.

The second Jayson Tatum got hurt, I vowed that I would try my hardest not to allow my brain to entertain the idea of a potential return at any point during the 2025-26 NBA season. With that type of injury, with the type of season that was on the horizon, I didn't even want to give it a second of my time. Take a year, and we'll see you in October of 2026.

When we learned that he was able to get the surgery immediately which was basically unprecedented, I took that info in stride. I'm not a doctor but if doctors are telling me it helped his chances of recovery, then I bought in. Even still, my stance didn't change. Sit the season.

When we got those "reports" that he was recovering in a way that could only be explained by Tatum actually being Wolverine, I did my best to resist the temptation.

When we got the first video update of his recovery a few months ago, I told myself to stay the course. I knew I needed to remain strong.

Well, after seeing the latest footage, I am sorry to report I am getting weaker by the minute. Between the fact that the Celts could very well find themselves comfortably in the top 6 and the East being wide open, I've failed. My brain is currently going to dangerous places. I mean….just look at this

Giphy Images.

Giphy Images.

It's hard for me to pick my favorite part of that short clip. The change of pace/hesitation step/dribble at the 4-second mark? That's when I had my first gasp. The two-footed stop at the 6-second mark? That entire time I was looking at his right foot ankle. That looked sturdy as shit to me, and I didn't see one bit of hesitation from Tatum to put that type of stress/impact on his achilles. I still believe the mental aspect of this recovery is going to be the hardest part when it comes to his return. We saw how long it took Gordon Hayward to mentally trust his body/foot again after his gruesome injury, especially when jumping/landing. For Tatum to truly be Tatum, he has to fully trust his body again. 

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The made jumper at the 7-second mark? Yeah, it moved, so what? I've been waiting months for footage like this. I apologize for nothing.

Of all the updates we've had so far in this recovery journey, this is by far the best one and the one that looks the most like actual gameplay. There's still a long road ahead, but this is the first time that I've truly allowed my brain to entertain the idea of a potential return this season. The tank aspect of the season is dead, nobody is catching the true tankers this year. As of now, the Celts have a profile of a 50 win team and are on a win pace of 45. Essentially, all of their issues that we've seen cost them games so far this season get solved with a return of Jayson Tatum, and nobody in the East looks all that scary. If he's ready to go by March/April, this team's chances are as good as anyones which is not exactly where I thought we'd be over the summer. 

Now, things are fluid. One bad stretch could drastically change the direction of the season, and if that happens you'll have to rethink things. But if they continue to go the way we've seen through the first quarter of the season? All I know is after watching that clip, the rest of the East better pray the Celtics hold Tatum out for the year. At this rate, he'll probably be scrimmaging by Christmas. Make some moves at the deadline and suddenly this gap year could very well be a contention year. 

As a reminder, this is on the horizon. Pretty good player imo