As Jayson Tatum continues to make strides in his rehab from Achilles surgery, the Boston Celtics superstar received support from one of his Team USA teammates.
After Tatum posted a video himself doing on-court work, Kevin Durant reacted to it on X:
Durant knows the journey that Tatum is currently going through. The two-time NBA Finals MVP ruptured his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals and missed the entire 2019-20 season.
Tatum went through an absurdly fast turnaround time for surgery on his ruptured Achilles. He suffered the injury during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks on May 12.
The Celtics announced the next day that Tatum had successful surgery. For comparison, Kyrie Irving had ACL surgery on March 26, 23 days after tearing the ligament in his knee.
Even though it has been assumed that Tatum would have to miss the entire 2025-26 season just given the typical recovery time from Achilles surgery, he has left the door open to returning.
“First thing, I haven’t said I’m not playing this season,” Tatum said Tuesday on ESPN’s First Take. “… The most important thing is a full recovery. And I’m not rushing it … at all. But also, I don’t go to rehab six days a week for nothing.”
The quickest recovery from a major Achilles injury for an NBA player was Wesley Matthews. He tore his Achilles in March 2015 and was back on the court less than eight months later for the 2015-16 season opener.
Matthews played in 78 games that season for the Dallas Mavericks. His efficiency declined with a 38.8 field-goal percentage and 36.0 three-point percentage, compared to shooting splits of 44.8 and 38.9 in 2014-15.
Given how important Tatum’s long-term health is to the future of the Celtics, they certainly aren’t going to try rushing him back on the court. But the fact he’s already doing basketball activities is a good sign that his rehab is going smoothly.