Jayson Tatum hit a new rock bottom for his NBA career in Game 4 of the Celtics’ second-round matchup.
Despite scoring 42 points against the Knicks, Tatum exited the matchup with what was later ruled a torn right Achilles, and the Celtics fell down 3-1 in the series. Tatum, who quickly underwent surgery, is now out for the long term with Boston fighting to keep its season alive.
On Friday, the repercussions of Tatum’s injury extended further — he’ll no longer have one of his commercials airing during the NBA playoffs.
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Here’s why Tatum’s “Superman” commercial was recently pulled from broadcasts.
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Why was Jayson Tatum’s Superman commercial pulled?
Jacob Feldman of Sportico reported Friday that the recent commercial featuring Tatum for the upcoming “Superman” movie is being pulled. With the Celtics trailing 2-0 in their second-round series, there were already rumblings of the commercial ending its appearances, but it was Tatum’s injury that made that decision official.
Feldman reported that the “Superman” campaign featuring Tatum has been “indefinitely suspended” following the star’s Achilles tear. It first appeared on May 5 and made a total of 185 showings, per Sportico.
The commercial featured Tatum stepping in as Superman, donning the red-and-yellow “S” on his chest, for a day after the superhero takes the day off to watch the NBA playoffs. But with Tatum sidelined and his long-term injury now being a somewhat sensitive topic, that commercial has been pulled, and other “Superman” commercials will have to take its place throughout the postseason.
Video: Watch Jayson Tatum’s Superman ad
Jayson Tatum Achilles recovery timeline
The expectation is that Tatum’s torn Achilles will require the kind of long-term recovery that many other NBA stars have dealt with in the past.
The timeline for a torn Achilles is typically around nine months, but it also varies by the player, their age, injury history, etc. Achilles injuries can sometimes take up to a year to fully heal. For example, when Kevin Durant dealt with the injury, he was out from June 2019 to December 2020.
Tatum’s recovery will be something to monitor over the coming months and into the late offseason. In the best-case scenario, he could hope to return to the court sometime around the All-Star break of the 2025-26 season, which falls in February each season. The average Achilles recovery time is around 10 months, per ESPN, so that timeline could even extend longer.
