Ben RohrbachSenior writerTue, April 21, 2026 at 1:43 PM UTC·4 min readBOSTON — As recently as the start of February, Jayson Tatum wasn’t sure he was going to return this season. He was focused on attacking his rehab from a torn right Achilles tendon in May, hanging around the team, just trying to feel a part of the Boston Celtics, even if he couldn’t take the floor until the NBA’s 2026-27 campaign.
A side effect to the injury: Tatum lost his confidence — not only in his right leg, but in his ability to return to the player he was, a perennial candidate for the NBA’s MVP. He would gain a little of it back each time he hit a rehab benchmark two weeks early.
Then, a funny thing happened in the next step of his rehab: On Feb. 10, it was time to play a live basketball game for the first time, scrimmaging against the Maine Celtics.
It was only then he thought, “Oh, I might come back this year.”
He asked his teammates after each session, “How did I look?” And they would remind him, in one form or another, that he is Jayson Tatum, and they are the Boston Celtics, and together they have enjoyed more success than most any other team of their era.
“The confidence that they instilled in me was impactful,” said Tatum.
“He needed us,” added Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla. “And we needed him.”
If Boston hadn’t played this well, retaining a No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference in his absence, Tatum may not have returned at all this season. Instead, he saw a chance to make a third trip to the Finals in five years, and he took it. A blowout of the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series was only the first step.
“It’s really been a long journey,” he said. “A lot of things had to go right to even have the opportunity to come back and play, so obviously I thank God every day I’m able to return to do what I love. From surgery the next day, with Nick [Sang, his trainer], and everything in between these last 48 weeks, it’s just been a build-up to today.”
Today was Sunday, when he totaled 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in the opening quarter of his first playoff game back since tearing his Achilles in Game 4 of a second-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks last season. You wouldn’t have been able to tell Tatum had suffered one of the most devastating injuries in sports if you hadn’t already known. He finished with a 25-11-7, barely playing the fourth quarter.
“It’s pretty nuts how far he’s come and how fast he’s gotten back,” said Celtics wing Sam Hauser from the locker room. “It just shows how determined and committed he was to his rehab and wanting to get back, and the belief he had in us — the chance we have to hopefully make a deep run — so it’s pretty impressive what he’s doing.”
It is beyond impressive. It is unprecedented. More impressive?
“I’m still rehabbing,” said Tatum. “I’m still returning. I’ve returned to play, obviously, but I still attack rehab every single day, except when we have off days, so obviously that is the main difference. I’m still just trying to ramp up. I got to play 16 games, so for me it’s all about conditioning and still attacking rehab every single day to feel better and feel stronger and more confident, things I just didn’t have to focus on in the past.”
Meaning we can expect a superior version of Tatum in the coming weeks?
“I think he’s going to continue to get better,” said Mazzulla.
Not only that, but Tatum’s body is fresh from 10 months off, unlike just about everyone else in these playoffs, and he picked up a couple things in his absence, too.
“I got to work on my body, so I definitely feel a lot stronger than years past,” said Tatum. “Sitting next to the coaches all those games I was out, I was just able to see the game through their lens and able to pick up on some things while I was out.”
And he’s picked up his confidence while he’s been back in.
“He built it by knowing where he was and where he wanted to go,” said Mazzulla.
Where he wants to go: A third Finals in five years, a second title in three.