{"id":467864,"date":"2025-12-12T00:32:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T00:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/467864\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T00:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T00:32:15","slug":"ex-nba-star-makes-bold-celtics-claim-after-jayson-tatum-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/467864\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-NBA Star Makes Bold Celtics Claim After Jayson Tatum Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jayson Tatum continues to add fuel to the rumors of a potential return to action this year after tearing his Achilles in the 2025 NBA<\/a> Playoffs.<\/p>\n

Before the season started, the masses didn\u2019t see a point in that plan. As many considered this year to be a gap year for the Celtics, it was valid to question why Tatum would think about returning so quickly if the Celtics aren\u2019t viewed as championship contenders.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the idea doesn\u2019t seem so bad.<\/p>\n

DeMarcus Cousins Makes a Major Celtics Statement<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he does return, they are the clear-cut to come out of the East,\u201d Cousins said on \u2018Run It Back\u2019 this week.<\/p>\n

Cousins\u2019 comments come one day after videos of Tatum putting in some on-court work surfaced<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt changes things,\u201d former NBA player Chandler Parsons added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnfernee Simons has got to be a little bit better off the bench. Payton Pritchard has a starting role and he\u2019s playing good. Derrick White, you know what you\u2019re going to get from. The depth for me has been the issue as always with the Celtics. Now they have Jordan Walsh, he\u2019s playing good and getting some good games. Sam Hauser, he\u2019s got to be better and make more shots. It\u2019s the depth for me, versus the glaring hole and the biggest difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do the Celtics Seriously Have a Chance?<\/p>\n

Never say never.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still early, but the Celtics might make it to Christmas as a top-three team in the Eastern Conference. With a 15-9 record, they currently only trail the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons. The Orlando Magic are on their heels with a 15-10 record.<\/p>\n

With the Celtics and the Indiana Pacers being the last two Eastern Conference Champions, their situations for the 2025-2026 season made it seem as if the East was open for the taking. Tatum could miss the entire season, while Indiana\u2019s Tyrese Haliburton is expected to with the same setback.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Pacers are struggling with a 6-18 record, placing them 14th in the conference. The Celtics have remained one of the top teams, despite the absence of Tatum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all up to him,\u201d Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said<\/a>, regarding a potential Tatum return. \u201cAt the end of the day, his health is the most important thing, his process is the most important thing. You trust him, trust the team that\u2019s around him \u2014 he\u2019s got a great team \u2014 and you just kind of go from there. So kind of just all starts about where he and his team think he\u2019s at.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be a while before Tatum takes the court again, but if the Celtics continue thriving, he could be a difference-maker down the stretch.<\/p>\n

For all the latest NBA news and rumors, head over to\u00a0Newsweek Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jayson Tatum continues to add fuel to the rumors of a potential return to action this year after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,805,77,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-467864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-demarcus-cousins","14":"tag-jayson-tatum","15":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115703785087825193","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}