Breaking: Celtics' Jayson Tatum Gets Devastating Diagnosis, Faces Long Recovery

May 13, 2025

Jayson Tatum suffered a ruptured right Achilles and had surgery on Tuesday

The worst fears have been realized, as Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum has been diagnosed with a torn right Achilles tendon and has already undergone surgery.

The Achilles tendon rupture is one of the most feared injuries in sports. As Shams Charania writes, Tatum now has a "long rehab awaiting", but he is expected to make a full recovery. There is no timetable for his return at this point, but it's almost certain that he'll miss the entire 2025-26 season.

The non-contact injury occurred with less than three minutes remaining in in Game 4 of Boston's 121-113 loss to New York, putting the Knicks up 3-1 in the Conference Semifinal. Tatum was taken to the team’s locker room in a wheelchair. 

Before the injury, Tatum had drained 42 points with eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals, but the Celtics still trailed by nine when he went down. Obviously shell-shocked, the team was unable to come back in the final three minutes and now face elimination in Game 5 back in Boston. 

It's especially shocking to see Tatum go down, as he has been one of the NBA's true ironmen, playing in over 92% of Celtics games in his eight-year career. He has only missed one single playoff game in his career (last round), & only one time has he ever missed back-to-back games due to injury.

Tatum is a 6-time All-Star, a 4-time All-NBA, a 2024 NBA Champion and simply one of the best players in the sport. This season, he averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and a career-high 6.0 assists. His career marks are 23.6 ppg, 7.3 boards and 3.8 dimes, along with a 37% mark from long distance. 

Needless to say, the Celtics will not be the same team, either for whatever is left for them in these playoffs, or next season. 

We'd already heard reports that the team will be in the trade market this offseason, and this obviously will greatly affect their summer plans.

Photo: © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

 

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