It only took an instant for Monday’s Knicks clash to turn from the best game of Jayson Tatum’s career to arguably the worst night of his professional life. Hoping to level the series and keep the Celtics’ title dream alive, the forward was balling out in Game 4, having scored 42 points and eight rebounds with over three minutes to spare. Then, tragedy struck. A simple dive for a loose ball became a career-altering moment as Tatum tore his right Achilles tendon, putting him out indefinitely.

Sure enough, Tatum was done for the night, and the Celtics ended up losing the game. Even worse, the superstar’s season was over, and the gruelling process of repair and rehab began. Turns out, JT underwent successful surgery on Tuesday to repair the ruptured Achilles. While the hoop community feared for his health, Tatum gave an emotional update with his latest Instagram post. Laying on the hospital bed with his right leg wrapped up following the surgery, a faint smile on his face, and a thumbs up sign hinting that he was doing okay. “Thankful for all the love and support 🙏🏽” The superstar wrote.

As expected, he received a ton of support from the NBA community. Even Knicks legend Carmelo Anthony sent his prayers with the message, “Prayers Champ 🙏🏾”

Apart from Melo, Matt Barnes also wished JT a speedy recovery, while Draymond Green wrote a heartfelt message, “As the story is told, it gets greater and greater brother! The bounce back will be more than amazing my dawg! 🙏🏿🙏🏿” Even the Celtics organization let Tatum know how much he is admired in the city of Boston, “We love you JT 💚”

As of now, there is no timetable on Tatum’s return. However, he is expected to make a complete recovery from the injury. Reports suggest that most of his next season will be spent in rehab based on the severity of his injury.

Joe Mazzulla reveals Jayson Tatum’s true feelings after season ending Achilles injury

Obviously, suffering such a gruesome injury at the height of his career will not be easy to deal with for Tatum. But Mazzulla has complete faith in the superstar’s toughness, as he revealed his true feelings, “He’s doing the best he can. If anybody can handle it, it’s him. He sent a message to the staff and the players today, so he’s doing better.”

While Mazzulla feels for Tatum, he has another massive challenge to worry about—saving the Celtics’ season. Now that Tatum is done for the season, the head coach needs to find a way to overcome the 3-1 deficit without him. So, his focus is currently divided, “It’s a balance, right? To be empathetic to a brother of yours being in the position he’s in, and at the same time, we step into the arena tonight in a must-win situation.”

He continued, “So, you have to find that balance of understanding the importance of him and how that hurt, and at the same time use some of that toward the situation that we’re in and focus on the things that impact winning.” Well, the Celtics were able to get the job done tonight as they blew out the Knicks in Game 5 to bring the series to 3-2. Now, they need two more wins to pull off a miraculous comeback and give Tatum something to cheer about as he enters his gruelling recovery process. Do you believe the Celtics can do it?