Jayson Tatum is just over three months into his recovery from the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered during the NBA playoffs. It hasn’t been an easy process for the Celtics star, but Tatum said he sees better days ahead in his first public comments on his injury.

While Tatum has been spotted in the wild rehabbing and working out, along with a few community appearances, he’s kept away from reporters and hadn’t spoken about the injury or his rehab since he ruptured his right Achilles against the New York Knicks on May 12. He broke his silence Wednesday in a clip shared on the NBA’s social media accounts, and discussed the struggles he went through early in the process.

Tatum underwent surgery in New York the day after he suffered the injury. The quick turnaround let him get a jumpstart on his rehab, but it didn’t make the undertaking any easier. 

“Rehab is… It’s tedious, man,” Tatum said in the video. “It’s six days a week. It’s starting to get a little bit better. I’m out of the boot now. Better days ahead, but just trying to take it one day at a time. 

“You got to be resilient. That first six weeks of this was probably the toughest six weeks of any point in my life,” added Tatum. “Just had to accept it and realize it happened and now I got to do everything in my power to get back to who I was and get back to playing.”

“Better days ahead.”

Jayson Tatum talks about resilience during his journey back to the court. pic.twitter.com/xsGenubrp2

— NBA (@NBA) August 20, 2025

Tatum was named to his fourth straight All-NBA First Team for his efforts throughout the 2024-25 season, and is determined to return to that level of play when he takes the court again for the Boston Celtics.

No timeline on Jayson Tatum’s return

The Celtics have not announced a timeline for Tatum’s recovery, though most players who suffer a ruptured Achilles miss a year or more of action. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and team president Rich Gotham have both declined to put any sort of date or even a general timeframe for a Tatum return this offseason. 

But Tatum is clearly attacking his rehab full steam and seems determined to return during the 2025-26 season. In the days after the injury, Tatum’s father, Justin, told ESPN he expects his son to be back for the Celtics in 8-9 months, which would the Boston star back in action around February or March.

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Matt Geagan

Matthew Geagan is a sports producer for CBS Boston. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years. He moved over to the web in 2012 and has covered all the highs (and a few lows) in Boston sports.