Superstar forward Jayson Tatum is reportedly pushing “really hard” to rejoin his Boston Celtics teammates for the second half of the 2025-26 season, less than nine months after sustaining a catastrophic Achilles injury.
While Hall of Famer Vince Carter appreciates Tatum’s eagerness to return to basketball activities, he has urged his young peer to exercise caution and not rush back.
“Take your time, young fella,” Carter told the “NBA on NBC” telecast this week.
“It’s no rush because if you’re going to do this, do it right the first time,” Carter continued. “You don’t want to consistently be in and out of the lineup, or something else goes bad. Just do it right the first time.”
Will Celtics Clear Jayson Tatum?
Carter, who battled an Achilles issue and several lower-extremity injuries during his career, felt that Tatum had nothing to gain by making a speedy recovery.
“Sometimes, as athletes, we need to be saved from ourselves,” Carter cautioned. “And don’t rush this process. The [Celtics] are going to make the playoffs [either way].”
Carter would understand if Tatum returned for the last few games of the regular season to gain reps before the playoffs, but thinks it’d be a mistake to return by March.
“Don’t rush back just because you’re feeling good, man,” Carter advised Tatum.
It should be noted that Tatum still has to meet certain markers before the Celtics clear him for an on-court return. Last month, Celtics front-office boss Brad Stevens shed some light on what it would take for Tatum to be cleared.
Jayson Tatum Wows With New Workout
“[There are] strength thresholds he has to meet,” Stevens said of a Jayson Tatum return, via CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell.
“After that, several weeks of progressions, from the standpoint of scripted against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in 5-on-5, unscripted random, all the way up through those. But it’s a long progression, and it’s almost like, once you hit the strength, then you do your thresholds of a progression of play, and then you’re also reconditioning to play real minutes, whatever that looks like.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has also stressed that Tatum’s return is “all up to him,” and the franchise won’t put undue pressure on the 6-time All-Star to make a comeback.
The momentum towards a Jayson Tatum return further intensified this week when he took the floor for a gruelling 45-minute workout session in the midst of the media at Seaholm High School, ahead of a game against the Detroit Pistons. Per Noa Dalzell, the session wasn’t “a full-speed NBA workout,” but it was the first instance of Tatum practicing in front of the media since he tore his Achilles last May.
In Tatum’s absence, the Celtics (27-16) have remained more than afloat, consolidating the second seed with a 119-104 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. Oddsmakers have tipped the Celtics as the betting favorites to represent the East in the NBA Finals if Tatum successfully returns before the end of the regular season.
Jayson Tatum Issued Warning by HOFer Ahead of Celtics Return