Boston Celtics Injury News: Jayson Tatum Ruled Out vs. Bucks

Over the last few days, the Boston Celtics have started to take steps to keep everyone on their roster healthy through the early part of the season.

Big man Mitchell Robinson didn't play in Sunday's win over the Orlando Magic while Paul George didn't play on Monday night against the Houston Rockets.

And now, superstar Jayson Tatum won't play on Wednesday as the Celtics return home for a clash with the Milwaukee Bucks (7:30 p.m. ET). It will be the first "DNP" of the season for Tatum, who has played in each of the team's first seven games (5-2).

Payton Pritchard is also listed as questionable for the matchup.

For starters, Tatum is still coming off a surgically-repaired Achilles that cost him most of 2025-26. I know that he came back to play 16 games last season - and the playoffs - but it is still important to note the injury context for him. Perhaps the team doesn't want to overload the Achilles too early in the season so that he can be healthier deep into the campaign.

Furthermore, if there's a team to sit against, it's probably the Bucks. That's not to say that any win in the NBA is guaranteed, but the Bucks are 1-6 in the wake of their roster reset this summer.

If the Celtics can't get past Milwaukee without Tatum, then maybe they just aren't as good as we think they are.

Through the first seven games, Tatum is making history in multiple regards. He's doing it through his scoring, and through his assist numbers. He's averaging 27.0 ppg and 7.9 assists to go along with six rebounds a night. He's hitting 87 percent of his free-throws and he's also getting to the line at a historic rate.

The No. 3 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft out of Duke, Tatum has ascended into one of the best players in the league. A six-time All-Star, he's a five-time All-NBA selection, an Eastern Conference Finals MVP, and a two-time NBA Finals participant.

He obviously helped the Celtics win the NBA Finals in 2023-24 as they beat the Dallas Mavericks. He did that alongside Jaylen Brown, who was traded this past offseason to the Philadelphia 76ers, who also figure to be one of Boston's biggest competitors in the Eastern Conference.