BOSTON (WHDH) – Boston Celtics’ star Jayson Tatum has been listed as questionable by the team for Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, clearing the way for his return less than 10 months after tearing his right Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks.
“You’ve seen all the work he’s put in, and it’s been consistent since day one. And so you see that, you see him on the court being able to do the things he does, it’s fun to see. So I’ll be looking forward to getting out there playing with him,” said Celtics guard Derrick White.
Although it’s natural to assume the five-time All-NBA forward will need some time to ease back into the game, Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez knows Tatum returning can only help the team.
“He’s Jayson Tatum, he’s going to be a positive for us in any way, you know? He’s one of the best players in the world, and anything that he is doing for us is going to be positive,” said Gonzalez. “I mean, obviously, he’s been away from basketball for a while so there’s going to be a kind of, like, a little grace period for him, but at the end of the day we all just want to win.”
Despite missing Tatum, the Celtics have a 41-21 record this season, which is second in the Eastern Conference behind the Detroit Pistons. As Tatum gets set to rejoin a team with legitimate title expectations, White says the real grind has only just begun.
“That was our goal at the beginning of the year anyways, and so obviously adding a guy like JT definitely helps us a lot,” said White. “We play for the Boston Celtics, that’s always the goal, and always the standard. It’s going to be a lot of work to get to that point, and we got a lot of room to improve, and that’s the exciting part, but we got to figure it out quickly.”
Tatum has been posting videos to social media during his road to recovery and has recently participated in team practices.
While fans are excited about the prospect of getting their star player back, they say there’s still plenty of time to start him slow and ramp up his playing time leading into the playoffs.
“Just get him in, get him some minutes and see how it goes,” said Scot Wilder, a Celtics fan. “I don’t think he’ll be playing that much, but get him some floor time and see how it goes.”
Last season, Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6 assists, and shot 45% from the field.
“I feel like we’re already in a good spot,” said Michael LePore, another fan. “I feel like being out there is going to energize the team, even though Brown has been playing amazing, the whole team has been playing amazing.”
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