Jayson Tatum – a man who’s more than just another player in Boston. Their knight in shining armor. Their Green Mamba. But a deafening silence was heard across the Massachusetts capital when JT went down late in Game 4, clutching his knee in agonizing pain. And as all of us watched in agony, the news broke that Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon and is out for the foreseeable future. But assistant coach Sam Cassell has no doubts that he’ll be back with a bang.

Tatum’s injury does more than just impact their on-court proceedings. On the face of it, filling the hole of the primary scorer should go to Jaylen Brown. And it worked in parts in their Game 5 win. But that Game 6 spoke volumes on their dependency on JT. Yes, he had a slow series against the Knicks. That included a combined 36 points in the first two games. But those games also had him scoring double-doubles. And he was on fire right before he got injured, scoring 42/8/4 in 40 minutes with 4 steals and 2 blocks.

Maybe that’s why Sam Cassell sees Tatum making the All-NBA next season, too. “Jayson Tatum is a special man… I hate that happened to him, but you know his work ethic gonna make him great again, man. So he top five first team All pro this year. When he come back, he’ll be first team All pro again, you know what I’m saying? He can be that, he’s that good, he’s that good. He’s that talented of basketball player,” said Cassell on The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone.

However, Jayson’s situation isn’t that typical. And that may be exactly why Cassell’s faith isn’t just blind loyalty — it’s informed optimism.

The 27-year-old Celtics superstar underwent successful surgery at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) just hours after sustaining the injury. According to multiple sources, the procedure was performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley — widely regarded as one of the top Achilles surgeons in the world — the same doctor who operated on Kevin Durant after his own rupture in 2019.

To better understand the implications of such a rapid surgical response, CelticsBlog spoke with Dr. Lou Soslowsky, founding director of the Penn Achilles Tendinopathy Center of Research Translation — an NIH-funded center focused on Achilles injuries. “That is really atypical — even for a professional athlete or a high-profile individual — that is atypical,” Dr. Soslowsky said. “So that is really wonderful.” 

NBA stars like Durant, Damian Lillard, and DeMarcus Cousins typically waited several days before undergoing surgery — in part due to logistics, travel, and consultations. Soslowsky explained that it’s rare for everything — surgeon, location, availability — to align this fast. But the stars did align for Tatum. Boston was in New York for Game 4 against the Knicks, and Dr. O’Malley happened to be available.

“You’re going to get infiltration of biologic agents and cells that will create the beginnings of scar formation,” Soslowsky said. “Because this repair was within a day, those processes had only just begun, and with a surgical pair, the torn ends were put right back together before a lot of these adverse biologic effects occurred. And so the opportunity for a faster recovery really is present.”

Add in the fact that he is just 27, as opposed to the usual age for Achilles injuries (30), matters. Still, the Celtics are likely to play the long game. “I think the likelihood of coming back next season is pretty low, honestly,” Soslowsky further elaborated. “But in some ways that might be just as well, because we have seen when people do come back early, there certainly is a risk of relapsing. That would be catastrophic, that would be awful. And so that’s not something that one would want to risk. On the other hand, we’ll know in a few months how he’s progressing.”

Even after the tendon heals, regaining peak conditioning is a process. Tatum will face a ramp-up period to restore cardiovascular fitness and on-court explosiveness, neither of which is simple with a lower-leg injury. Aside from that, Tatum‘s injury puts the squad in a virtual overhaul.

Not only are they going to have to make changes (which makes managing their $500 million squad that much harder), Joe Mazzulla has a task on his hands finding a longer-term replacement than Brown in the squad. Reports say that Payton Pritchard could see his way into the 5. But seeing all of this put the team under a great deal of stress, says Cassell.

Jayson Tatum’s injury got the Celtics team bus “emotional”, says Sam Cassell

It’s as if they knew exactly when their season fell apart. You might hate him, but you have to respect him. The Green Mamba always comes into a game with a swagger that oozes aura. And that’s exactly what the Celtics missed out on in those two games without him. When the podcast asked Sam on the bus’s thoughts on that injury, he didn’t hold back.

“You got a great group of guys, man, who understood the situation we were in. Man, it was like, hey guys, we down three one, okay. Come on, we gonna get another lead and let’s just take advantage of the lead. Cause we had leads every f—— game. Every game, every game. But basketball gods- it’s how it happens sometimes, man,” said Sam on the pod.

But just as Cassell said this, it’s as if he had an epiphany. Mid-thought, he remembered the league-high 18 banners that hang in the TD Garden. And he knows- even without Jayson Tatum, they’re still the Boston Celtics. And this is just another opportunity for them to grow. “We’re gonna grow for this as a staff, we’re gonna grow for this as a team, and we’re the Boston Celtics, baby!”

Jayson Tatum is a massive loss for the Celtics. There’s no two ways about it. The timeline is uncertain. The medical precedent is thin. But the way things unfolded — from the lightning-fast surgery to Tatum’s age, mindset, and support system — gives Boston hope.

“There’s not a lot of data on recovery from Achilles tear for a 27-year-old at 12 hours post-tear, right?” said Dr. Soslowsky. “There’s no data, really, out there.” And that, in its own way, is what makes this chapter worth watching.