BOSTON — Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum said it was “unfortunate timing” that he was forced to watch Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers from the bench in street clothes because of left knee stiffness.
Speaking a day after he missed the Celtics’ 109-100 loss in Game 7, Tatum elaborated on his comeback from last season’s torn right Achilles, along with his recent knee injury.
“My recovery and comeback [from the Achilles injury] were going so well that how it ended, I didn’t think it was going to end that way. It was just unfortunate,” Tatum said Sunday.
“I worked really, really, really, really hard to come back in the fashion that I did and play at the level I was playing at. So for it to end the way it did was a tough pill to swallow.”
The sudden and shocking end to the Celtics’ season was a tough pill to swallow for the group. Boston became just the 14th team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series — and the fourth to do so with homecourt advantage.
In addition, Tatum’s sudden change in status — from not on the injury report, to questionable with left knee stiffness Saturday afternoon, to ruled out less than two hours before Game 7 tipped off at TD Garden — was the focal point of much of Sunday’s discussion.
Tatum had appeared to be bothered by something in the second half of Boston’s 106-93 loss in Game 6, though it was unclear whether he could’ve returned to the game after Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla waved the white flag with 10:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and Boston trailing by 23 points.
But Tatum said that after meeting with the medical team and his trainer, Nick Sang, it was decided he wasn’t going to be able to play in what turned out to be Boston’s final game of the season.
“It was just with the staff and medical team and Nick, they just kind of assessed everything that was going on,” Tatum said. “And I’m still in the window of the return to play protocol, and there were just certain rules and a plan that ultimately that we had to stick by.
“And it was tough, obviously, working as hard as I did to come back and to be available and for it to come to a Game 7, not be able to be out there. I just keep saying this was unfortunate and it’s tough to deal with, but it’s a plan that we have to stick to.”
It’s a plan that, over the past couple of months, produced some fairly remarkable results.
Tatum said on a few occasions Sunday he was playing at roughly 80-85% of his full capacity since coming back less than 10 months after he tore his Achilles, pointing out that his right leg is still shorter than his left. He averaged 21.8 points, 10 rebounds and 5.3 assists during 16 regular-season games before averaging 23.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the first six games of this series.
With Tatum’s impressive return and Boston wildly exceeding expectations, with 56 wins and the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Celtics entered the postseason as the favorite to return to the NBA Finals. That feeling was only strengthened after the Celtics took a 3-1 series lead following a blowout win over Philadelphia in Game 4.
Only a week later, Tatum was conducting an exit interview after watching Game 7 from the sidelines, and another season had ended in disappointment for him and the Celtics. That said, Tatum — who said his injury was a day-to-day issue, and he would have be able to return at some point in the second round had Boston won Game 7 — made it clear this season shouldn’t be viewed as a disappointment.
“Yeah, the team was super, super exciting and fun to watch this season,” he said. “You know there’s only one team that can win the championship, and it’s always tough to lose whenever it does happen, beginning of May or end of June, it’s always a tough pill to swallow.
“I don’t think how it ended should take away from the growth of each guy in that locker room and the steps that they all made this season and from what the expectations were of this team to being a 2-seed and everybody having an important role and showing their value, and just doing it together. This team was a joy to watch, and it was a joy to be a part of when I was able to join them.”
From the beginning, Tatum’s return to the team was never a sure thing.
Going back to the moment he had his Achilles surgery in New York less than 24 hours after being injured at Madison Square Garden, both Tatum and the Celtics never publicly committed to his return.
After returning to the court and playing as well as he did, Tatum said he is excited to have a full offseason to continue his rehabilitation process, and enter next season fully back at the level he was before his injury, something he said he doubted he could do at times during this process.
But he also rejected the notion that it might have been better to sit out for the full 18 months and return next season.
“I’m very happy that I came back to be a part of his team, to get back to doing what I love, to help us, give us a chance to compete for a championship, to prove to myself that I can get back to being the guy who I was, and hopefully better,” he said. “And just to kind of defy what this injury kind of means, not necessarily from the standpoint of, like, ‘I’m great, look at what I was able to accomplish,’ but to give other guys hope that … obviously, I don’t want anybody to have to go through tearing their Achilles.
“But in the unfortunate event that it does happen, that I can be sort of inspiration, of like, if you attack rehab a certain way, if you follow these guidelines, or do it a certain way, that it’s not like a career-ending injury, that you can’t come back, that you can be yourself, that you can be better, that it won’t take 18 months, that you can come back whenever it is right for you.
“So I’m happy and proud of the fact that I was able to do that. And, unfortunately, if somebody else has to deal with this, they can look at what I was able to do and have some hope and inspiration that it’s not what people used to think it was. And you can come back from this and be who you were and hopefully be better.”
