Jayson Tatum’s lengthy visit with The Pivot podcast delivered a treasure trove of headlines.
The part that stuck out most to us: Tatum displaying a heavy dose of self-awareness while admitting he’s been thinking a lot lately about how his return might impact a Boston Celtics team that has been entrenched near the top of the East standings for much of the 2025-26 season.
He also seemed to offer a rare hint about the timing of an in-season return.
At one point, Tatum noted, “If or when I do come back this season, they would have played 50 some-odd games without me.” He showed impressive maturity by saying out loud that he’s concerned his return could somehow disrupt the flow of the team.
But we all know the best version of the Celtics features Tatum, even if it will take time to get him back to the peak of his All-NBA powers.
Tatum later noted he’d be rejoining the team “50, 60 games into a season.”
That’s one of the few hints that Tatum has offered about a potential return during his limited media appearances since the injury. He has also noted:
- He circled a target date near the start of his rehab. We’ve long wondered if that date was around his birthday on March 3. That would be just shy of 10 in his rehab from Achilles surgery.
- He would prefer his return to action come at home at TD Garden, in order to make his return in front of Celtics fans.
So, here are all of Boston’s upcoming home dates between games 50 and 70:
- Feb. 6 vs. Miami (Game 52)
- Feb. 8 vs. New York (Game 53)
- Feb. 11 vs. Chicago (Game 54)
- Feb. 27 vs. Brooklyn (Game 59)
- March 1 vs. Philadelphia (Game 60)
- March 4 vs. Charlotte (Game 62)
- March 6 vs. Dallas (Game 63)
- March 14 vs. Washington (Game 67)
- March 16 vs. Phoenix (Game 68)
- March 18 vs. Golden State (Game 69)
There are a lot of fun possibilities in there. A Super Bowl Sunday return against the same Knicks team that Tatum was injured against — that would serve as an appetizer before the Patriots play in the NFL’s title game — is the stuff of Disney movies. But it’s also 11 days away and might be a bit too ambitious.
Waiting beyond the All-Star break gives Tatum a whole bunch of extra time to ramp up, though the Celtics come out of the midseason respite with a four-game road trip out West. The Celtics don’t play their first post-break game at home until February 27.
The Charlotte game after his birthday always felt like an intriguing option, and a 2024 Finals rematch with the Mavericks looms on March 6. (That’s also the first game in Boston for Maine native Cooper Flagg.)
Celtics brass repeatedly has stressed it will exercise plenty of caution with Tatum’s return, but when the calendar flips to February — and particularly after the Feb. 5 trade deadline passes — the hype around his potential return to game action will kick into overdrive.
“[This year’s Celtics] have an identity this year — or things that they’ve felt that has clicked for them and it’s been successful, right?” Tatum added on The Pivot. “Second team in the East up to this point. So there is a thought in my head of like, how does that work?
“How does that look with me integrating myself off an injury, and 50, 60 games into a season? Obviously, could be some challenges and it is a thought like, damn, do I come back? Or should I wait? It’s something that I honestly, recently, in the last like two weeks or so kind of just kind of contemplate every single day.”
Despite his concerns, the Celtics having to figure out how to reintegrate Tatum on a 50-plus-win pace with the fourth-best point differential in the league is the best sort of problem to have.
There will be obvious bumps in the road, especially as Tatum shakes rust from an extended absence. But that game action is vital to getting Tatum back to feeling like his old self, and getting Boston back to being a legitimate title threat.
