Before Jayson Tatum made his long-awaited return from Achilles surgery Friday night, he took an opportunity to address the Celtics teammates he’d watched all season.
Tatum spoke up in a team meeting on Thursday, sharing a message of gratitude and appreciation that resonated with head coach Joe Mazzulla.
“He talked a little bit, and just the way that he talked to his teammates, about his teammates, I just think he came on the other side of (his injury) a better person,” Mazzulla said after Tatum played his first 27 minutes of the season in a 120-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden. “I know he became a better player, and that’s all you could ask for.”
Tatum, who tallied 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in the win, said Boston’s success without him helped keep him motivated during his nearly 10 months of rehab.
Unlike some players who choose to recover from injuries away from their teams, Tatum worked out daily at the Celtics’ training facility, attended in meetings and film sessions, and sat on the bench for nearly every game, home and road. He watched closely as the team shattered its lukewarm preseason expectations, surging toward the top of the Eastern Conference standings while boasting one of the NBA’s best net ratings.
His speech, Tatum said, “was more just being vulnerable, showing my appreciation to the team of how they have played this season, how they’ve motivated me.”
“Every single day, the joy and competitive nature that they displayed, I wanted to be a part of that,” Tatum said. “And I say it all the time, going through rehab and being injured is lonely. And it’s not intentional, but there’s a lot – I couldn’t practice for a while, I couldn’t be in the game, when they were on the court I was in the weight room having to do my own thing. So you feel isolated in a sense.
“But I just expressed that being around as much as possible, going to games, being on the plane, really made me feel like I was still very much a part of the team, and how thankful to the group for just being themselves that I was. Thankful to the coaches that have extended their days a lot by helping me during rehab on the court in pickup games and my conditioning. So I really was just kind of telling everybody in the room that they all played a part in essentially getting me to this moment. And I was very thankful for that.”
Combined, Tatum and Mazzulla used the word “gratitude” or “grateful” a total of 12 times in their Friday news conferences.
“Outside of basketball, I think it just means a lot, just as a person and just our relationship,” Mazzulla said of Tatum’s return. “When you care about somebody and you see them go through something, you want to be able to see the fruits of that labor. So it’s just a credit to his work ethic and the people around him, but also to the team. I think it was a good opportunity for us to come together as a team, be there for a teammate, have a teammate make the team better.
“So for me personally, just grateful to be a part of someone else’s story. I mean, we’ve got a bunch of guys in that locker room that all have their own journey and their own story. Grateful that they allow me to be a part of that, and being a part of JT story is just kind of where we are right now.”
