{"id":638979,"date":"2026-03-04T14:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/638979\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T14:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:42:15","slug":"itll-be-nice-to-have-jayson-tatum-playing-for-celtics-instead-of-performing-for-the-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/638979\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019ll be nice to have Jayson Tatum playing for Celtics instead of performing for the camera"},"content":{"rendered":"

The best thing about Jayson Tatum <\/a>returning to the lineup is that the Celtics<\/a> will have a superstar back for the stretch run and the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The second best thing will be not having to hear about his rehab anymore.<\/p>\n

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No more sweaty workout videos. No more Tatum trying to sound convincing saying he really doesn\u2019t know if he\u2019ll be back this year. <\/a><\/p>\n

Since he went down with his Achilles injury in the playoffs last year, Tatum has been the featured player in a 10-month rehab that he\u2019s turned into theater.<\/p>\n

When he was healthy, the camera found him organically. From his game-night arrival in whatever fashion he was showing off, to being showcased on the court during the game, to the postgame press conference, Tatum got his normal helping of superstar attention. So it was impossible to tell how much he relished it and how much he would miss it.<\/p>\n

Tatum has been treating his whole rehab process like a performance, one that seemed desperate to not be forgotten as a basketball season went on without him.<\/p>\n

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Since his injury, Tatum has carried himself like the best way to repair an Achilles was to be on camera. Tatum has been releasing workout videos of his rehab since last fall, which isn\u2019t unusual in today\u2019s professional sports, where everything is a brand-building opportunity.<\/p>\n

But then last month, Tatum announced \u201cThe Quiet Work,\u201d a five-part mini-documentary series chronicling his return from surgery. There\u2019s nothing quiet about it.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the first guy to rupture his Achilles and he won\u2019t be the first guy to come back from it. But the documentary feels like when a based-on-a-true-story movie exaggerates the drama for effect with lines like:<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I had no hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

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and<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like my soul left my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

His doctors should be eligible for membership in the Screen Actors Guild.<\/p>\n

Adding Tatum\u2019s absence to salary cap trade departures of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis made the Celtics a great unknown going into the season. It seemed reasonable to wonder if they\u2019d even make the playoffs<\/a>. Instead, they\u2019ve been terrific. They\u2019ll go into Wednesday\u2019s game with Charlotte with the second best record in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

But Tatum\u2019s constant fueling of the \u201cWhen is he coming back?\u201d questions has yanked some of the spotlight away from their remarkable showing. That\u2019s either selfish or oblivious.<\/p>\n

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So when he\u2019s healthy enough to return, he should get back on the court, whether that\u2019s a nationally televised home game against the Lakers or a Tuesday night 10 p.m. game against the Kings in Sacramento.<\/p>\n

But Tatum has said he wants it to be a home game and the expectation is that he wants it to be a big game, preferably on national television.<\/p>\n

There was even social media speculation that he was going to target March 14 because the date 3-14 is the same number as the area code for his beloved hometown of St. Louis.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s probably baloney, but it says something about Tatum, that it\u2019s at least a little believable.<\/p>\n

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But if his decision is based on anything but medical readiness, his priorities are badly out of whack.<\/p>\n

The decision should be made by Tatum with the endorsement of a team of doctors not his publicist or documentary director.<\/p>\n

Tatum\u2019s love for attention doesn\u2019t make him different than many of his peers. In this social media age, everybody behaves like they\u2019re living in their own documentary.<\/p>\n

And to his credit, attention has found him for good things. He\u2019s steered clear of scandals and he is, by all accounts, a good guy, a good teammate, a great dad and tremendous basketball player. Thankfully, the spotlight can turn back to those things soon.<\/p>\n

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The sooner the better.<\/p>\n

More Celtics content<\/p>\n

Read the original article on MassLive<\/a>. Add MassLive<\/a> as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The best thing about Jayson Tatum returning to the lineup is that the Celtics will have a superstar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8847,7,46,77,2038,871,6,2152,83282],"class_list":{"0":"post-638979","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-achilles-injury","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-celtics","11":"tag-jayson-tatum","12":"tag-jrue-holiday","13":"tag-kristaps-porzingis","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-the-lakers","16":"tag-workout-videos"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116171436470795933","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638979","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=638979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}