Celtics’ Brad Stevens Joins Jayson Tatum in Achilles Rehab

Shaky videos posted on Instagram don’t count for much, of course, but when dealing with the Celtics and star forward Jayson Tatum after a torn Achilles tendon injury during last year’s playoffs, anything that smells of an earlier than expected return will be cause for celebration. And on Friday before the Celtics drubbed the pacers in Indiana, Tatum posted a video of himself driving hard through two defenders to finish with a dunk.

But most notable about the video is the source of the original pass that Tatum receives before he starts on his drive–it’s his old coach and current Celtics basketball president Brad Stevens.

As Tatum wrote on his post, “S/O to Brad for joining workout today.”

The workout was on Stevens’ old stomping grounds, Hinkle Fieldhouse, home of the Butler basketball team. Stevens, of course, had been the coach there from 2007-13, when he went 166-49 and twice led the mid-major Bulldogs to the NCAA final game before being hired by Danny Ainge to coach the Celtics.

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Jayson Tatum Tore Achilles on May 12

It was back on May 12 that Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in the Celtics’ Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Knicks. Typically, a return from that injury can take as long as a year, which appeared to put Tatum out for all of the 2025-26 season. But in some cases, the return timeline can be shortened to 10, or even nine months.

That means a potential Tatum return could happen in March, or if he is truly far ahead of schedule–he has teased that he is–perhaps even February, just after the All-Star break. As ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported last week, Tatum, “is determined to play” in 2025-26.

The fact that the Celtics are 19-11 without Tatum, and are No. 3 in the Eastern Conference–just 2.0 games behind the Knicks for No. 2–is only fueling the speculation further, since Tatum could be dropped onto a team that is already poised for a top playoff seed.

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Celtics Are Giving Jayson Tatum ‘No Pressure to Return’

Tatum has said that, even with the Celtics strong start, the team is not pushing him to get back, saying he has had “no pressure to return back any sooner than when I’m 100% healthy.”

But the Celtics have made it clear that they’re ready for Tatum to return. He remains on the injury report each night, and team has not sought season-ending salary relief to sign a player to replace Tatum–a move that would preclude Tatum from making a return.

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Celtics Have Required Thresholds

For all the enthusiasm, though, the fact remains that Tatum has strict medical thresholds he needs to hit before he can get back on the floor for the Celtics in a serious way.

Stevens described those: “There’s strength thresholds he has to meet. And then after that, several weeks of progressions from the standpoints of scripted against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in 5-on-5, unscripted random, all the way up through those.

“But it’s a long progression, and it’s almost like once you hit the strength, then you do your thresholds of a progression of play. And then you’re also re-conditioning to play real minutes, whatever that looks like. He’s obviously made great strides. Right now, we’re still focused on the full strength gain.”

 

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney