Jayson Tatum comeback? What doctors, history say about Achilles rehab

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Jayson Tatum comeback? What doctors, history say about Achilles rehab

Souichi Terada · MassLive

Mon, Feb 16, 2026 ·

13 min read

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Jayson Tatum broke down crying. Just hours after rupturing his Achilles tendon, doctors showed him his MRI. There it was: the line through his tendon. The first major injury of his durable career. He felt betrayed.

Tatum recounted that self-doubt after his injury on “The Pivot Podcast.” In this day and age where athletes are dragged on social media for showing a hint of weakness, the Celtics star zagged the other way. He was vulnerable. Raw. Genuine.

“I can honestly say I’m proud of myself because the day I had surgery, I remember I didn’t think I could do it,” Tatum said on the podcast. “It was the first time I ever doubted myself. It was tough to admit that because, ever since I’ve been a kid, I always believed I’m going to be exactly who I am.”

Tatum can talk about his emotions now, 40 weeks since his surgery. He’s posted workout videos . Hints that he’s improving. Real progress. Real milestones. While it’s unclear when he’ll be back on the parquet playing basketball again, he’s already moved mountains to get to where he is now.

The Tatum comeback is now at a crossroads . An in-season return not only felt likely but inevitable. It’s now uncertain if Tatum will play this season after recent reports. But there have been promising signs over the past few weeks. The latest update was a massive step: Tatum practiced Feb. 9 with the Maine Celtics , the team’s G League affiliate. His teammate said Tatum looked like himself. There’s a reason why the comeback buzz is real.

“I’m feeling good,” Tatum said Feb. 10. “It was good to be a part of practice with the Maine G League guys. … It’s been a long journey. And it’s just like the progression of rehab. It was the next step. Doesn’t mean that I’m coming back or I’m not. It’s just following the plan. So it’s just another step.”

There’s a reason why the Celtics and Tatum haven’t committed publicly to an in-season return yet. Achilles injuries are usually devastating. Recovery isn’t a simple straight line — it’s more complex than that. MassLive spoke with orthopedic doctors and NBA players for their input on the injury to get better insight on the surgery, medical advancements and rehab.

The common theme: This is a damaging injury. For all the drawbacks physically, there’s also the mental toll it takes on elite athletes. It’s why Tatum’s authenticity felt so real. It’s not just rupturing an Achilles tendon. It’s also about the mental strength it takes to get through months of rehab and an uncertain future.

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There’s optimism for a full recovery. That’s always been the main priority: Get the face of the Celtics franchise back to full strength. The organization hasn’t rushed or pressured him to return, even if they’re 35-19 and an East contender at the All-Star break. The only thing that matters is he gets back to the court at 100%.

“You have a lot of time on your hands,” Tatum said. “You think about a lot of things, and you’re just hyper aware of what’s going on. And I think it would just stem from that. Obviously, I know what I bring to the table and bring to the team, but I’m also aware that these guys have been playing extremely well. And not to say that I would come and mess it up or anything like that. It was just kind of being vulnerable, I guess, for a moment, and talking from that perspective.”

Trainers help Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0) off the court after he was injured during the second half of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks Monday, May 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)AP

What the experts say

Dr. George Theodore specializes in sports-related injuries of feet, ankles and knees at Mass General Hospital. He said the typical recovery timeline for an Achilles injury is 9-12 months. Even then, when athletes return, he said studies show that they’re initially operating at about 85% of their former selves. In that first season back, especially, performances decline as athletes acclimate back to full speed.

Still, sports medicine continues to evolve. Decades ago, a ruptured Achilles tendon was a career-ending injury. Now, athletes are not only returning but are still effective when they do. Dr. Kevin Farmer, an orthopedic surgeon and chief of sports medicine at the University of Florida, said doctors have gotten better at surgically repairing Achilles tendons.

“We’re better at fixing these,” Farmer said. “A lot of people are doing what’s called an internal brace. You may have heard the term the SpeedBridge, which is where you actually attach the more proximal part of the tendon straight to the heel bone, so that you avoid that risk of lengthening. Now we can push quicker and get them back quicker.”

An important aspect of Tatum’s recovery was how quickly he got into surgery with renowned surgeon Dr. Martin O’Malley, less than 24 hours after the injury. O’Malley works with USA Basketball, the Brooklyn Nets and New York Giants at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. O’Malley specializes in the SpeedBridge technique, though it hasn’t been officially reported what exact operation Tatum received.

Did the immediacy of Tatum’s surgery speed up his recovery? Farmer said that’s inconclusive, but possible.

Farmer said it’s beneficial to get the operation done within a week compared to a month later, but there haven’t been any substantial studies of a one-day turnaround. Theodore said, in his experience, getting surgery within one day vs. seven days hasn’t had a noticeable impact. However, he added “the earlier the surgery, the better” instead of waiting around.

“It would make sense that getting to it within a day or two could be beneficial,” Farmer said. “It makes the surgery easier. Scarring down. There’s a lot of layers of protective tissue around the Achilles called the paratenon that often starts to scar down. But if you can preserve that and incorporate that as part of the repair, that’s beneficial. So early on, that’s easier to do. I do think it makes a lot of sense, but there’s no studies looking at surgeries done that quickly that say for sure.”

While Achilles surgeries and rehabs have evolved, Theodore specifically spoke about why these injuries have been so prevalent. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last year the league is studying why this injury in particular has seen a rise in recent seasons.

Both Theodore and Farmer pointed to how fast the NBA game has become, especially compared to past decades. Theodore spoke about three things in particular: Increased physical demands from the schedule, preexisting damage adding up, and more rapid acceleration and deceleration during games.

Achilles tears have also become more common in younger athletes, according to Farmer. He compared Achilles injuries in NBA players to elbow injuries in baseball. Athletes are specializing in sports at younger ages — and the resulting wear-and-tear can be detrimental in the long-term.

“The Achilles tendon injury is still a poorly-recognized injury in terms of why it happens,” Theodore said. “Although we’re always looking for reasons as to why this might have occurred to an athlete, we really don’t know. It is a devastating injury and it has an excessive recovery time. In some players, it affects both their performance and their career longevity.”

Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0) reacts after being injured during the second half of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks Monday, May 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)AP

The toll of an Achilles injury

Heat guard Dru Smith admitted it got harder and harder watching NBA stars drop during last year’s playoffs. Every time he saw a Tatum or a Damian Lillard or a Tyrese Haliburton tumble to the floor, “it just took me right back to that moment where it’s all taken away.”

Smith suffered an Achilles rupture on Dec. 23, 2024, and underwent surgery four days later. By the time the playoffs rolled around, he was walking and past the most difficult part of the recovery process. Rehabbing is slow, tough and “boring some days,” Smith said in what was a grueling process.

“You have a few negative thoughts in the back of your mind,” Smith said. “But at the end of the day, you just have to understand you put in the work to get back to that point. I think once you get out there a couple times and you realize that you’re fine, you’re going to be O.K. You just have confidence in the work that you put in.”

The NBA’s uptick in Achilles injuries encompassed every level of athlete, not just the stars. Tatum, Lillard and Haliburton got more headlines. But role players like Smith and then-Nuggets rookie DaRon Holmes also went through the anguish of such a catastrophic injury. They just didn’t have millions of fans wondering when they would return to the court.

Holmes suffered his Achilles rupture in his first NBA Summer League game in July 2024. After getting drafted 22nd overall by the Nuggets, his rookie season was over before it started, creating a world of uncertainty.

Even now, he’s still battling to get back to where he was pre-injury. He’s starting to feel encouraged, but the road is long and uncertain.

“Mentally, it can be very draining, especially because you’re watching everything,” Holmes said. “You’re like, ‘Man, I wish I was out there.’ You just have to stay positive, stay the course and everything comes back to place. It’s very difficult. But if you have the right mindset, you can overcome it.”

The Achilles tear in December 2024 was especially difficult for Smith — he tore his ACL in November 2023. He only had about three months on the court before suffering this new injury. It was another blow for the undrafted free agent out of Missouri. Right when he looked like he could compete for a rotation spot with the Heat, the Achilles pushed him down even further.

But Smith “didn’t want that to be the end of my story.”

Smith returned relatively quickly from the Achilles tear, roughly 9-10 months after surgery. Applying that to Tatum, who went down in May 2025 in the playoffs, that would put the Celtics star at approximately a March return on a similar timeline. But Smith stressed that everyone is different when it comes to recovery. Taking it slow initially was actually beneficial for him.

“I was able to get back fast, but really, it was probably because of the patience on the front-end,” Smith said. “We took everything really slow. We walked slowly. We ran slowly. We were probably behind on the early milestones just to make sure everything was safe, then you can kind of ramp it up from there.”

There is no bigger source of inspiration after an Achilles tear than future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant , who suffered his injury in the 2019 NBA Finals. When someone ruptures an Achilles, Durant’s recovery is the gold standard. Not only did he resume his stellar career, he’s still putting up impressive numbers at 37. He leads the Rockets with 25.8 points in 36.7 minutes per game.

Count Durant among those impressed with Tatum’s rehab. The Rockets star detailed how difficult it was jumping back into NBA speed coming off the injury. Even then, there have been medical advancements over the past six years since Durant went down. Guys are coming back to play faster and faster following the injury.

“That’s one of these experiences you gotta just go through on your own,” Durant said. “You can get as much advice as you want, but you know it’s just you out there when you rehabbing. You got somebody there telling you what to do, but it’s you out there putting them reps in. Focus on yourself and not try to get too much advice from people just kind of go through it on his own, and that’s what it seems like he’s doing. He’s in a good space.”

‘Still one of our leaders’

The Celtics’ message has been consistent: There is no timetable for Tatum’s return. There has been a concerted effort to ensure Tatum doesn’t feel any pressure to come back before he feels he’s ready. That’s the mental aspect of the injury. Even if certain strength thresholds are met, there are still hurdles returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

It helps that Tatum has attacked his rehab relentlessly. The All-NBA forward has teased his return with occasional workout videos. The first time he got shots up on the court in a video , back in late September, led to real buzz across the league. The workout in metro Detroit on Jan. 19 also impressed, dunking the ball and going through contact work with assistant coaches. His latest practice with the Maine Celtics was just the latest step.

“He’s staying mentally, physically, emotionally prepared,” Sam Hauser said. “He’s working his tail off every day, as you can see. And his presence is still felt even though he’s not out there with us and we appreciate him giving his time to us still, even though he hasn’t been able to compete with us in full. But hopefully at some point in the season, if not, no big deal. But he’s definitely still one of our leaders.”

Tatum is also with the team. NBA stars often rehab from home or somewhere warm, away from the public eye. But Tatum has been a consistent presence on the Celtics bench — at home and on the road — in whatever attire he wants to show off that night. That’s a calculated move on his part because being around his team is “good for me and my spirits.”

“The only thing I care about is his presence and his leadership, and he’s given that in different ways,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Communicating with guys, in film sessions, traveling with us. At the end of the day, he’s on our team. He’s a part of our team. He’s helping us get better, and then everything else just comes down to him and the people around him. And you just trust that.”

The main question for a Tatum return is if he’ll be back playing like himself. He cemented himself as a top-5 player in the world before going down. But there will likely be an ease-in period before he’s back to being the best of Jayson Tatum.

It’s just unclear if that will take place this season or next.

Regardless of if Tatum returns or not, the Celtics have played like a team that could be a legit threat in the East. Tatum could potentially fill a lot of holes, whether that’s scoring, rebounding, playmaking or defending. The possibilities are enticing. But until Tatum feels ready to be back on the court, he isn’t committing to it yet.

“I’m still trying to figure it out, still just going through the progressions of rehab,” Tatum said. “I’m not saying I’m coming back or I’m not. It’s all about being 100% healthy and going through the plan of this protocol."

What the experts say

The toll of an Achilles injury

‘Still one of our leaders’

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