Jayson Tatum Practices, But Remains Non-Committal About Boston Celtics Return

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum spoke to the media on Tuesday, his first time answering questions since media day. At that point, he’d already made a fair amount of progress but was still in the early stages of his recovery.

Now, 39 weeks in, Tatum has participated in a practice with the G League Maine Celtics, marking a major step forward in his potential return.

“I'm feeling good. It was good to be a part of practice yesterday with the Maine G League guys,” Tatum told reporters at the team’s practice facility. “Today is 39 weeks, so it's been a long journey. And it's just like the progression of rehab. It was the next step. Doesn't mean that I'm coming back or I'm not. It’s just following the plan. So it's just another step."

Tatum and the Celtics have been purposefully vague about his return, only talking about each step along the way and not about target dates or even if it will happen at all. He recently expressed some hesitance about coming back and potentially being disruptive, but he chalked that up to the natural intrusive thoughts that happen over 39 weeks.

“You have a lot of time on your hands,” he said. “You’re just hyper-aware of what’s going on. And I think it would just stem from that. Obviously, I know what I bring to the table and bring to the team, but I'm also aware that these guys have been playing extremely well. And not to say that I would come and mess it up or anything like that. It was just kind of being vulnerable, I guess, for a moment, and talking from that perspective."

Brad Stevens echoed that sentiment last week.

“I think it's more natural just from a, when you're in that rehab process … there's a lot that goes through your mind,” he said. “You're looking at old footage of yourself versus new footage of yourself. You're trying to figure out, like, where you are in that kind of whole path. And then you get back out on the court, and each day gets a little bit more normal, and you start to feel a little bit more maybe like yourself.”

That's how Tatum felt taking the floor on Monday. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t with Jaylen Brown or Derrick White. After 39 weeks of rehabbing, it was more about getting a sense of normalcy.

“It was just kind of good to be out there, have a jersey on,” Tatum said. “Just kind of felt good to be a part of a team and practice and go through reps and stuff like that.”

This is a critical step forward for Tatum. This is where the drills wind down and the actual basketball ramps up. The individual stuff is done. Now Tatum says his progression will bring him to “more conditioning, more live things, getting acclimated to playing five on five, and contact and stuff like that.”

Essentially, the physical recovery of the Achilles tendon is over. Now it’s about getting the rest of his body ready for NBA basketball.

“He’s continuing to just chip away at the progression of his rehab, and it was great to see him take another step,” Joe Mazzulla said. “There’s been a lot of steps and milestones along the way, starting from just walking, and it was great to see him get to the next one.”

There are still boxes to check along the way, and Tatum and the Celtics have been very careful not to box themselves into a timeline. Even if history tells us Tatum is getting close and this appears to be the ramp-up phase of the process, Tatum is keeping his cards close to the vest. He refused to put a percentage on how far back he is. Instead, he just said he feels a little better today than he did yesterday.

“I’m still trying to figure it out, still just going through the progressions of rehab,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m coming back or I’m not. It’s all about being 100 percent healthy and going through the plan of this protocol.”