Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum made his triumphant return from an Achilles tendon tear against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
In 27 minutes of action, Tatum posted 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and helped Boston pull out a 120-100 victory.
After the game, Tatum reacted to his return and expressed appreciation for being back out on the court with his teammates after an extended absence due to a serious injury issue.
“I still got a long way to go,” Tatum said. “But this was a really good step.
“… It’s been a long time coming just to get to this point,” he added. “Nights and days I dreamed about this moment and anticipation, the crowd. It’s been 42½ weeks since I played in an NBA game, so just trying to get caught up on the speed and everything. I just kind of felt like I was a step off or moving too fast. But the game started to slow down as I just kind of relaxed a little bit.”
Tatum understandably experienced a wide range of emotions during his return performance, but the prevailing emotion was gratitude.
“I really was just kind of grateful,” Tatum said. “I had a real sense of gratitude of just being back on the floor, playing basketball. It just kind of brought me back to everything I’ve been through in the last 10 months. And the fact that I was able to even be out there today was a really big win for me.”
As someone who has previously torn their Achilles playing basketball, I can speak from experience. It’s an extremely devastating injury with an extended rehab timeline that can easily feel daunting and overwhelming, even scary. The fact that Tatum was able to return in a relatively quick manner is a testament to the work he put in over the past 10-plus months.
Like Tatum said, he still has a way to go before he looks, and feels, like his old self. But, you have to start somewhere, and it’s impossible to look at Tatum’s first game back as anything other than a major step in the right direction.
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