Jayson Tatum says Achilles injury will motivate him the rest of his career

Across the first eight regular seasons of his NBA career, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was an iron man and represented the gold standard of durability for star players in the league. He appeared in 70-plus games in all but two of his opening eight campaigns.

However, Tatum’s injury luck took a devastating turn after he went down with an Achilles injury in Boston’s Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks in the second round. The forward said he felt “defeated” when he initially went down with the serious injury.

“At first I was sad, I was devastated,” he told the Boston Globe. “I was defeated. I felt like it wasn’t fair. I felt I was doing everything right, I was doing everything they asked of me and giving 110 percent and I never cheated the game since I was a kid, so it felt like I got betrayed from the game. It felt unfair and I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t feel angry but you get to the point where you accept. Now is the tough part because you’ve got media day on Monday and practice on Tuesday and it’s becoming a reality that I won’t be out there to practice and play when the season starts and that’s frustrating to have to live through.”

But Tatum is over four months removed from getting hurt, and now that he’s had some time to reflect on his situation, he said that the injury will motivate him in the second half of his NBA career.

“It will,” he said. “It will.”

Tatum spoke on his recovery process as well and admitted he’s felt a whole lot better ever since he’s no longer had to wear a boot.

“It’s a long process,” he said. “At first you don’t feel like yourself because you’re stationary. You’ve got a splint on, you got the boot and then the crutches and a walker and a shower seat. It’s hard to feel like yourself. Once I got out of the boot was the moment I started feeling normal again, you’re putting on a shoe, starting to work out, you’re traveling again and you’re starting to get into better spirits. You are starting to feel like yourself.”

The Celtics’ ceiling is far lower sans Tatum on the court and healthy, as there’s a case to be made that he’s Boston’s best scorer, rebounder, passer and most versatile defensive player. He wears many hats for Boston, and his absence will be felt on both sides of the ball when the team kicks off the 2025-26 season without him in the lineup.

Though on the bright side from the Celtics’ perspective, Tatum hasn’t entirely ruled out the possibility that he will suit up in the coming season. All signs are pointing to the notion that Tatum is progressing well in his recovery, as he uploaded a video to YouTube not long ago of him getting back out on the court.

Plus, if there’s anything to glean from Tatum’s injury and his likely extended absence, it’s that Celtics fans will find out what forward Jaylen Brown can do as a primary scoring option. He’s played in Tatum’s shadow for a long time but has proven to be a prolific scorer in his own right, and he even won Finals MVP at the end of the 2024 championship series.