Jayson Tatum was predicted to return to the Boston Celtics against the Charlotte Hornets on March 4, right after his birthday.
Celtics’ Jayson Tatum predicted to return from Achilles injury against lottery team in March originally appeared on The Sporting News
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum won’t start the 2025-26 season with his team after tearing his Achilles tendon in June. Luckily for No. 0, his recovery is going well, and almost every prediction has him returning to the Cs between now and next April.
NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg shared his prediction for when Tatum will return, and he settled on a special date for the St. Louis native:
March 4, the day after his birthday, and a mantra for Tatum to keep moving on after suffering the most devastating injury in sports. The Celtics host the Charlotte Hornets at the TD Garden that day, and Forsberg believes the former Duke Blue Devil will want to put on a show for the North Carolina viewing audience.
“Tatum celebrates his 28th birthday on March 3, 2026. That would be slightly more than nine months removed from his injury. If doctors are certain he wouldn’t be putting himself at risk by using late-season games to shake some rust -- all while pacing himself in the early stages of that return -- we could see Wednesday, March 4 being a belated birthday gift to himself,” Forsberg wrote.
“The Hornets might not necessarily be a circle-the-date matchup on the surface, but Tatum would have a bunch of Duke fans watching the Hornets broadcast back in North Carolina.
“The month of March is overflowing with intriguing matchups. If Tatum is healthy enough by that point, there’s no shortage of opportunities to make a glitzy return.”
Tatum inspired hope for Celtics fans during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends in which he claimed he had never said he was out for the entirety of the coming campaign.
“That is the million-dollar question. I think for me and my team, the doctors, the organization, the most important thing is making a full recovery [and] being back 100%. Not rushing it. But I haven’t said like, ‘Yo, I’m not playing this season,’ or anything like that. I have a goal in my mind… I’m not working out, rehabbing six days a week for no reason,” Tatum said.
Tatum is unquestionably saying there’s a chance he’ll be back sooner than expected. How well Boston plays, and whether they’re within striking distance of a playoff seed, will dictate if he ends up following through on that.
Category: Basketball
