We may not see Duke legend Jayson Tatum play this season.
Tatum tore his Achilles tendon on May 12, 2025.
A St. Louis native, Tatum was the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The forward spent just one season at Duke, averaging 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He was a superstar.
Duke went 28-9 with Tatum leading the way in 2016-17. They were upset, though, by South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Tatum's highest-scoring game with Duke was 28 points against Virginia on February 15, 2017.
Tatum has established himself as one of the best Duke players to ever play in the NBA. He's made six All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams with the Celtics. The talented swingman has career averages of 23.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks per game in the NBA.
Tatum helped the Celtics win the 2024 NBA championship against the Dallas Mavericks in five games. He tragically tore his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Back in October, Tatum told DJ Siddiqi of Poker Strategy that he's not worried about tearing his surgically repaired Achilles again.
“I mean the exact number, I know the number is low,” Tatum said. “Everybody thinks it’s a time-based recovery. Time is obviously important, but you have to hit certain benchmarks. The most important thing is all these tests of your strength, the strength in your calf, the strength in your leg. Getting into the same strength as your left calf or even stronger.
“For some guys, that takes six, nine, 12 months. Everybody’s just different. But the surgery that I got, the things that we’ve been doing, I feel very, very confident in that surgical site. We won’t have that problem again.”
It's smart that Tatum isn't rushing back. The last thing we need is for the Duke icon to get hurt again.
It will be fascinating to see if Tatum plays this season or makes his grand return to basketball next season.
Duke fans will certainly pay attention to any future updates about the Celtics superstar.
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