Boston Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have primarily focused on their injury rehab this offseason.
The good news? They both appear to be making terrific strides with their recovery.
Tatum ruptured his right Achilles tendon in mid-May during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks and underwent surgery the next day. The injury Brown dealt with is vaguer as he played through a right knee ailment, which required surgery following the season. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported that Brown had a partially torn meniscus.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens gave an update on the status of Tatum and Brown when he met with the media Tuesday, and it was nothing but encouraging.
“It’s been unique to be here in June and the early part of July and both Jayson and Jaylen are here,” Stevens told reporters, per Bobby Krivitsky of Hardwood Houdini. “We’ve played, obviously late (in the season), and this is usually a time when guys get away. But coming off of each of them having surgery, they’ve both been here.
“Jaylen was in here this morning, did a shooting workout. (He) looks good. Jayson was in, moving pretty fast on that boot today. All indications are they’re both progressing at incredible rates, which is great. But we’re not going to put any pressure on Jayson to get back any time soon. We have no reason to believe that Jaylen won’t be all clear and ready to go fairly shortly.”
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It’s unclear what Tatum’s timetable for return looks like. While he could sit out the entire 2025-26 season, it’s also not of out the question that he returns late in the campaign if things continue to progress well.
And it sure seems like Tatum is pushing himself to come back sooner than probably expected.
“We’re not even talking about timeline for return. We’re not even going there,” Stevens said. “Jayson is working every single day. He has literally been here every day, except he took a few days break. But when he takes a few days break, (trainer) Nick (Sang) goes with him, so he’s still working every single day.”
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