Jayson Tatum seems hesitant about Boston Celtics return, but this team is built to make it work

Jayson Tatum seems to be close to a return, and according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, wants to “get it right the first time.” It adds to the revelation over the past couple of days that Tatum is hesitating not just about how he comes back from his Achilles injury, but whether to come back at all this season.

It’s an understandable position to be in for Tatum, who is clearly experiencing feelings about this situation he didn’t contemplate before. Tatum has seen a star player’s return from a devastating injury from the other side with Gordon Hayward in 2018, and he may simply not want to have his return go poorly and disrupt his team.

“I look at disruption as a positive,” Joe Mazzulla said on his weekly sports radio appearance on Thursday. “You should never be worried about disrupting in a negative way. He’ll be disrupting in a positive way, because he’ll just make us better on both ends of the floor, and already add to what we’ve been able to build here this season.”

Joe Mazzulla confirms Jayson Tatum’s recovery is moving exactly how it should. No delays, no hurdles….

"He’s had zero setbacks."

Via Zolak & Bertrand / 985 The Sports Hub pic.twitter.com/P2lqKsa6HX
— CELTICS ☘️ BANNER 19 (@BiggLynch) January 29, 2026

Whether the Hayward situation is something factoring into Tatum’s thinking or not, this feels like a normal way for Tatum to react to being this close to a comeback. In fact, it shows how much he cares about his team.

Injury recovery is an inherently selfish endeavor. Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon, worked his way through the mental hurdles of acceptance and moving forward, and set about conquering a process to come back and be himself again. Every day is a challenge to himself, his mental fortitude, and his physical tolerance for pain. He has set a lofty goal, and he seems set to achieve it.

At the same time, achieving that goal now involves other people, making the final step of what was a solo quest about more than just him. For Tatum to have his moment back on the floor, with more than 19,000 people cheering him on, requires his teammates to step back and give him that spotlight.

And those teammates have spent a lot of time working, sweating, bleeding, and learning new things to get to where they are. Which is why what he said on The Pivot podcast is a quote I keep coming back to.

“They have an identity this year … and it's been successful,” he said. “So there's a thought in my head … how does that look with me integrating myself off an injury and 50-60 games into a season? Obviously could be some challenges. And it is a thought like, damn, do I come back, or should I wait? It's something that I honestly, recently, in the last like two weeks or so, kind of just kind of contemplate every single day.”

The big finish to this solo act now requires a whole orchestra to jump into the set on the fly. It’s easy to put one’s head down, rehab, and even plan out a grand return, but it’s also easy to forget the dynamics waiting on the other side.

What Tatum should lean on is the knowledge that this locker room is built to handle things like this. Working Tatum back in would be an adjustment for everyone, but the players inside that room are willing and able. The coaching staff has handled everything thrown their way over the years, so they are prepared to handle whatever might come up. And they have the support of a strong front office.

There are teams that might struggle through a transition like this, but the Celtics do not seem to be one of them. Even if the on-court product has a hiccup, Jaylen Brown is good enough to carry the team through it as he has all season. Tatum and Brown will have to adjust their partnership through this evolution, but doing so is no different from any other relationship. As long as there's communication, there's a path through whatever challenges they might face.

The more I think about what these past couple of days have meant, the more I settle on Tatum wanting to do what’s best for everyone involved. He doesn’t want to disrupt what this team has worked hard to accomplish, and I think that's out of respect for his teammates and the coaches. But Tatum has been a part of all of it as well. He has traveled with the team, been on buses and in film sessions, and inside huddles during games. Even though rehab is something separate from the team, he hasn’t withdrawn from the team to do it.

Tatum is right to anticipate challenges when he comes back, but he should put his faith in his team and coaches to get it right. The fact that he’s worried at all about how he returns is enough to tell me he should come back when he’s ready to play. It’s the right mentality to have, and it’s one that will undoubtedly assure that everyone figures out how to make it go as smoothly as possible.