By Mallory Mattingly
Celtics point guard Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon at the end of the 2025 NBA season and has leaned on his two sons, Deuce, 7, and Dylan, 14 months, as he recovers.
“It’s been a long journey,” Tatum told PEOPLE of recovering from the injury. “I’m on the road to getting back. And it’s the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life.”
He went on to describe the pain he felt when the tendon ruptured.
“It sounded like a gunshot. It was almost as if I had headphones on when I heard it. It was the loudest pop,” he recalled.
Tatum couldn’t believe what had just happened.
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“I just kept saying, ‘No, no, no way this just happened to me.’ I’m turning on my butt, smacking the ground, ’cause I knew right away what just happened,” he explained.
Later that night, Tatum went back to the locker room, surrounded by family and teammates.
“I literally sat there and cried for two hours ’cause so many things ran through my mind: ‘Is my career over? Am I going to get traded? Are all my partners going to drop me?’ My basketball career flashed in front of my eyes,” he said. “I’m in my prime, one of the best basketball players in the world, and it felt like it was all taken away.”
Luckily, Tatum was able to rely on his mom and his sons, who “help my spirits.” The athlete loved being able to spend extra time with his family this summer, describing it as the “silver lining.”
Shortly after his injury, Tatum shared a photo on Instagram with Dylan and Deuce.
“Father’s Day 🤞🏽,” the NBA player captioned the post.
Now, Tatum is on a mission to return for the upcoming season.
“I’m doing everything in my power to get back as healthy as I can, as fast as I can,” he told PEOPLE. “Nobody’s putting any pressure on me to come back at a certain point. But I’m also not ruling out that I’m not playing this season. The first most important thing is making a full recovery, being back 100% before I step on the floor, not compromising anything. I’m still only 27, I got a lot of basketball left. I’m not rushing it.”
Amid recovery for one of the most grueling injuries an athlete could endure, Tatum leaned on his support system to help him push through the process.
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