Jayson Tatum’s 2024-25 NBA Playoff run was abruptly cut short on a night when he was going off on the offensive end of the floor for the Celtics. Boston’s superstar had 42 points before he went down while chasing a loose ball. A new report claims the Celtics’ unprecedented response to their superstar’s injury may have helped him cut short his return timeline.
Just 12 hours after Tatum went down due to injury, the Celtics rushed their star to the hospital to repair his torn Achilles. They were able to get the same surgeon who operated on Kevin Durant during his injury with the Nets in New York.
According to Dr. Lou Soslowsky, the founding director of the Penn Achilles Tendinopathy Center of Research Translation, the preparation for this surgery happened in a record time, unlike other NBA players who took several days before getting surgery done on their torn Achilles.
“Fifty percent of their time, they’re not in their home city, and the choice of which surgeon you’re going to have perform that operation is a conversation between the athlete, the agent, maybe the team, ownership, maybe colleagues or friends of the athlete,” said Dr Soslowsky.
“And once those conversations happen, those conversations take a little bit of time. They don’t happen within the first half hour, right? They begin then, and then, once you settle on the surgeon, depending on what city that surgeon is in, it’s often not in the city that you’re in. So, there’s some time involved there. And then that surgeon may have a clinic day that day, and they may not have an operating day until the next day or two days later,” he further added.
On April 27, Damian Lillard tore his Achilles tendon, and on May 2, he had surgery. DeMarcus Cousins had surgery on Wednesday after tearing his Achilles on the previous Saturday night. Even Kevin Durant, who is frequently used as an example of what a successful rehab may look like, had surgery on Wednesday after tearing his Achilles on a Monday night.
As per the report, the usual recovery time for an Achilles tear is seven months to eighteen months. However, the Celtics being able to get Tatum’s surgery done in around 12 hours after the incident has created a real “opportunity for a faster recovery.”
Jayson Tatum averaged 28.1 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in eight games played in the 2025 playoffs. However, the Celtics are 2-0 without Tatum in these Playoffs. He missed Game 2 of their first-round series against the Magic due to a bone bruise on his wrist. Now he will likely miss the starting portion of the next season as well in his recovery from this injury. Any anticipation of time cut short in his return is good news for the Celtics.
Research suggests Achilles tears are one of the toughest injuries to bounce back from in basketball. However, Kevin Durant made one of the most iconic returns from this injury. Therefore, Charles Barkley also suggested that Tatum get in touch with his Olympic teammate, Durant, and understand how to bounce back from this injury.
