Head coach Justin Tatum was on his way to Mongolia with his team for a game in the Indonesian Basketball League last Monday while the Boston Celtics played the New York Knicks in Game 4 of their best-of-seven second-round playoff series.
While on a stopover in South Korea, Justin grabbed his tablet and thought he would watch the game live. His son, Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum , was cooking and well on his way to dropping a 50-piece on their opponents. Suddenly, JT fell on the floor and grimaced in pain.
As a former professional basketball player himself, the elder Tatum knew right away that, based on what he saw, his son tore his Achilles tendon. A few minutes later, Justin's phone rang. It was Jayson, and the two ended up having an emotional conversation.
"They cried on the phone together, and Jayson was asking him, 'Why me, dad? Why me? Why does this have to happen to me?' And he said, 'Son, this is God's will. You're young, you're gonna get through this,'" said ESPN's Marc Spears, who spoke with Justin.
Justin went on to remind Jayson that his childhood idol and hero, the late Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant , also suffered an Achilles injury late in his NBA career. Even at an advanced age, KB went on to successfully recover and continue playing for the Los Angeles Lakers until 2016.
The 2025 NBL champion head coach, who has accepted a gig for Indonesian league's Pelita Jaya team while Australian basketball is in its offseason, then told Spears that based on his conversation with his son, he was more worried about Jayson's mental well-being than his physical ability to recover from the injury because he's never dealt with an injury as serious as an Achilles tear before. And so Tatum's dad offered to quit his job to be by JT's side in the United States.
"He asked Jayson, 'Do I need to come home? I'll leave Asia right now and go home right now.' And Jayson said 'No, dad, stay there and coach," added the Hall of Fame NBA reporter.
Meanwhile, the Celtics wasted no time. Immediately after tests confirmed the ruptured right Achilles tendon, they sent Tatum to the New York-based Hospital for Special Surgery, where the No.3 overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft went under the knife in a procedure led by Dr. Martin O'Malley.
O'Malley has successfully operated on more than 150 professional athletes, including Kevin Durant 's bone graft surgery in 2015, Rudy Gay 's 2017 Achilles tear, and a 2023 operation on both of Tiger Woods' feet after his 2021 car accident.
" Jayson Tatum today underwent successful surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon," the Celtics said in a statement. "No timetable is currently available for his return, but he is expected to make a full recovery."
A day later, Jayson shared a photo from his hospital room after the surgery, and by the looks of it, he is in good spirits, and Justin does not have much to worry about. Looking positive and upbeat, he gave a thumbs-up sign in an Instagram post thanking his well-wishers.
