NEW YORK — The first rule of Achilles Club is you don’t talk about Achilles club.

(OK, maybe not to the degree of Fight Club.)

But if someone wants to talk, commiserate or seek advice, Dru Smith said he is available.

Part of last season’s rash of Achilles tears across the NBA, the Heat guard will come somewhat face to face with one of the prime faces of last season’s Achilles agony when the Heat play Friday night against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

Because, as Smith did with his rapid-recovery timetable, there appears to be a chance that Boston forward Jayson Tatum might be able to fast-track his own approach in time to make the Celtics yet again a formidable playoff opponent.

In the wake of Smith going down last December with his Achilles tear, Tatum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton were lost during last season’s playoffs, with the immediate notion being that they also would be done for this season, as well, Achilles recovery typically viewed as a 12-month process..

But as Tatum and Haliburton were just coming to grips with their Achilles tears, Smith was creating his own rapid reward, able to make it back for the start of training camp, now playing as a key component of Erik Spoelstra’s rotation.

So ready to share his story with those amid the same process?

“No, I have not talked to anybody about it. If they reach out, no worries,” said Smith, an even more significant component on this three-game Heat trip, with Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson sidelined by injuries.

But if his story isn’t shared on Friday night with Tatum, empathy nonetheless will be abundant.

“If he were to ask me something, then I’d feel free to answer,” Smith said, with the Heat opening their trip Thursday night against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. “But I don’t know if he wants my opinion on anything, and he’s got his own people, his own team.”

For Smith, there remains ongoing appreciation for the Heat training staff that got him back on the court, and effectively back in the league, with a new, standard contract this offseason.

It is not, Smith said, a rehab he would wish on anyone.

“Yeah, for sure, it’s tough,” he said, when asked to consider what Tatum, Haliburton and others recovering from last season’s Achilles tears are dealing with. “It’s a really tough rehab. It’s boring. It’s slow.

“I think everybody goes at it in slightly their own way. But it seems like guys are doing pretty good so far coming back.”

Tatum almost assuredly will be in attendance Friday night, having traveled with the Celtics this season and been a presence in the locker room,

Asked about a potential Tatum return that potentially could turn the Eastern Conference playoff race upside down, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has been non-committal.

“It’s all up to him,” Mazzulla recently told the Boston Globe. “His health is the most important thing; his process is the most important thing. We trust the team around him. He’s got a great team and we go from there. To me, the only thing I care about is his presence and his leadership and he’s doing that in different ways. He’s communicating to guys in film sessions. He travels with us.

“He’s part of our team and he’s helping us get better. And everything else will come down to him and the people around him.”

Similarly, Smith was around the Heat last season as he worked his way back.

So far this season, there hasn’t been the same rash of Achilles tears, with Indiana Isaiah Jackson another player able to fast-track a 2024-25 tear into a return this season.

“So hopefully as this year progresses, it goes back to the norm,” Smith said. “I don’t wish that on anybody.”

For now, it’s back to business as usual for Smith, 27, as a solid, stabilizing contributor.

“He’s been really important just in terms of his consistency,” Spoelstra said. “You know what you’re going to get defensively from him. He’s really disruptive and then offensively he just stabilizes whatever unit he’s in.”