After tearing his Achilles tendon during the NBA Playoffs this spring, Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum pondered walking away from basketball.
In May, the trajectory for the Celtics over the next year was completely changed. In one moment, they went from a team fighting to reach the Eastern Conference Finals and defend their title, to one that could struggle to reach the playoffs next season.
Tatum’s Achilles tear is expected to sideline him for most, if not all, of the 2025-26 season. But he will be back eventually. And Kevin Durant proved earlier this decade that an elite player can come back from such a serious injury and return to the level of play they were previously at. However, after it all happened, the six-time All-Star really thought his career was over.
“So for this to happen, it was just like, man, this was not supposed to happen to me,” Tatum told NBC News/Today with Jenna & Friends. “And for a while, I was kind of like — it may sound dramatic, but I remember telling my mom, like ‘Mom, I might be done. I don’t know if I’ll be able to overcome this or if I’m up for this challenge.’
“You know, I just felt defeated. And there was a time I was like, I don’t know if I want to do this anymore.”
Jayson Tatum’s mother played a key role in Achilles surgery recovery
However, fortunately for Celtics fans, the NBA superstar was able to regain his confidence and love for the game with the help of some TLC from his mother, Brandy Cole.
“My mom empathized with me, what I was going through, and she understood how I felt was real,” said Tatum. “But, you know, she was always upbeat and uplifting.”
Because his home does not have a first-floor bedroom, and he was forbidden from climbing stairs for 10 weeks, the Boston forward actually moved back in with his mother for the first few months of his recovery after surgery.
- Jayson Tatum stats: 26.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.1 SPG, 34% 3PT
So when might Jayson Tatum be ready to return to the court in an NBA game? He admits he isn’t sure if it will be in the 2025-26 season, but he is not ruling out the possibility.
“I’m not taking that off the table, because, you know, for me as a competitor, every day I go into the weight room and do rehab, I’m working towards something, obviously, coming back 100%, whenever that is,” Tatum said.
