What’s the biggest story in the NBA?
Well, it should be Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum’s triumphant return from an Achilles tendon tear against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Jayson Tatum Returns From Injury To Spark Boston Celtics Over Cooper Flagg’s Mavs
Like clockwork, the Kobe Bryant comparisons were reignited.
In 27 minutes of action, Tatum, who was projected to miss this entire 2025-26 NBA season, dropped 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and helped Boston pull out an impressive 120-100 victory.
As far as continuity with his teammates, it was like Tatum never left. He did miss his first couple of shots, and he landed gingerly on his first few dunks, but that was to be expected. It didn’t take him long to shake off the rust and start trusting his body again.
Tatum’s Glad To Be Back, But Says He Has A Long Way To Go
After the game, Tatum reacted to his return and how he’s handling his recovery from the worst injury of his young career.
“I still got a long way to go,” Tatum said. “But this was a really good step.”
“It’s been a long time coming just to get to this point,” he added. “Nights and days I dreamed about this moment and anticipation, the crowd. It’s been 42 and a half weeks since I played in an NBA game, so just trying to get caught up on the speed and everything. I just kind of felt like I was a step off or moving too fast. But the game started to slow down as I just kind of relaxed a little bit.”
Fan Criticizes Jayson Tatum Return, Says Six-Time All-Star Lost A Step
If anyone expected Tatum to immediately be the same player that he was before he was injured, then they were setting themselves up for failure. The fact that Tatum is back and contributing near triple-doubles to a team that just won the NBA championship two seasons ago is remarkable.
Haters will do what they do though. Instead of praising Tatum for his return and discussing how the Boston Celtics are once again NBA championship contenders, some fans chose to focus on what Tatum didn’t do in his first game back.
A video of Tatum blowing by a defender for a monster dunk and landing somewhat awkwardly was captioned by a fan:
“tatum lost a step man”
Commenting on what kind of player Tatum is after his first game back from a possible career-ending injury is typical social media madness. But some fans on X bought into it.
“It’s a tough conversation to have, but you’re right. People keep pointing to his fitness because it’s an easy fix, but the reality is the lift just isn’t there anymore. He looks heavy out there,” said one fan.
“Tough injury to recover from. That aside, although Tatum and Brown are good player’s, they lack the fire of Draymond or Jimmy B, they don’t have the ‘Dawg’ in them,” added another commenter on X.
Boston Celtics Fans Defend Tatum’s Return Performance
Boston Celtics fans responded to any doubts about their born-again superstar eventually returning to full form. Some cautioned that expectations should be tempered because players recover at different speeds.
“Tatum is only 10 months removed from the f-cking injury, everyone is NOT Adrian Peterson, people need to STOP thinking it only takes 5-6 months to recover from EVERY Sports related injury JUST because one man did it!!!” one fan quipped.
“Yall expect people to play like they’re 20 at 28 fresh off an ACL.”
“Bet you the leg looks a lot more normal next year,” one positive Celtics fan said.
“He hasn’t built up his lower body strength back to where it was yet. In 2-3 months he will jump as well as he did before. Explosive movements are the last thing u get back after an injury like that. He will be fine,” another informed fan commented.
The ignorance and timing of the comment was the perfect gaslighting to incite a riot.
“some folks have never played post a sports injury lol. you want to play at your full state coming back, but you gotta ease into it plus you still have the thought of the injury so want to be cautious until you fully regain that full confidence with your body,” a netizen posted in the comments on X.
Tatum’s Return To Court After 10 Months Changes Complexion Of Eastern Conference
Tatum’s return is certainly quicker than most suggested and if he can perform as he did in his first game back, then his return upsets the entire apple cart in the Eastern Conference. The race to the NBA championship is no longer three-team race between the Knicks, Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons. The Celtics are back.
Tatum is back, and he’s balling already. Unlike many of the NBA’s supposed superstars, Tatum isn’t one dimensional. His multifaceted performance in the 2024 NBA Finals, where he stuffed the stats sheet doing the dirty work, allowing Jaylen Brown to ascend to Finals MVP, shows that Tatum is a force in many ways beyond scoring when on the court.
Without Tatum, the Celtics are still in second place in the East. Regardless of how you think he looks, his return can’t be understated. Let’s pray he stays healthy, because he’s a blessing to the league and a champion.
