Fierce1 wrote:Clearly JT is ahead of schedule in his recovery.
Like I said, if doctors clear him, he will play.
Pacers already declared Haliburton out for the 2026 season.
Why won't the Celts do the same to Tatum if the plan is to bring him back in 2026-27?
Because the Celtics don't make statements like that about injuries. The Gallinari torn ACL..they never declared him out for the entire season. They kept us all thinking that *maybe* he'd come back later in the season.
But he didn't.
Time Lord's injuries..and KP's injuries and illness. They never told us what was really going on or how severe they were.
Same thing with Brogdon's elbow.
We didn't even know Grant had a hand injury in 2023..out of nowhere we just randomly find out the news that her got surgery on it after the 2023 playoffs.
This is what the Celtics do. They play it very close to the vest..they leave us in the dark with injuries..they don't give definitive answers one way or the other
https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2025/08/07/jayson-tatum-injury-return-boston-celtics-achilles-nba-basketball/Rich Gotham today when asked about Tatum's timeline:
“That’s a down-the-road question. That’s one you can’t really answer today,” Gotham responded. “For right now, we’re not really looking at timetables.”
Why are the Celtics so coy with injury timelines?
2 main reasons:
1) Don't tip your hand to the competition or give other teams any info or any edge on you
2) What if you say a guy will be back in January but things don't quite work out that way and he isn't back until April? Then you're the bad guy, have to do damage control, have unhappy fans, unhappy season ticket holders who might not renew their memberships, etc.
Haliburton has been ruled out for all of next season. So has Lillard. Jamal Murray tore his ACL at around the same time of year as Tatum - he missed the entire season after that and returned opening night of the 22-23 season, after sitting out a whole season..he took his time, didn't rush the rehab/recovery process and as a result..he was able to help lead the Nuggets to the title that season when he came back in 22-23.
That's the path for Tatum.
Not doing what Kobe did - try to come back too early and then get hurt again even worse, miss even more time and then barely be a playable player for the rest of his career.
Other teams like the Pacers and Blazers are more forthcoming, less coy with injury reporting. Does that mean Tatum is gonna play this season? No.