02/09/26 06:01:00
Printable Page
02/09 17:58 CST Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum will practice with G-League team
on path to return
Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum will practice with G-League team on path to return
By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON (AP) --- Boston All-Star Jayson Tatum took a big step toward returning
from his torn Achilles tendon when he was assigned to practice with the Maine
Celtics, the organization's G-League team, on Monday.
The organization said he would immediately be recalled to the Boston Celtics
and continue to rehab the injury he sustained in the Eastern Conference
semifinals last spring.
Tatum led the Celtics to their title in 2024 and had them on track for a repeat
before the injury, which was expected to keep him out for about a year.
Boston entered Monday night with the third-best record in the Eastern
Conference, and a Tatum return could help propel the team to a long playoff
run. Tatum expressed doubts last month whether he might upset the team's
chemistry by returning, but Brad Stevens, the team's president of basketball
operations, said that was not a concern.
"Obviously, any team with Jayson Tatum's going to be better," Stevens said on
Friday. "If he needs it, I'll tell him every day. Because every team -- all 30
of us -- would be way, way better with him on the team."
Stevens said Tatum still has "a ways to go," and the team isn't going to rush
him.
"He's hit a lot of the thresholds, he's doing more and more and will continue
to do more and more," Stevens said. "There's no pressure from us. But there's
also not going to be any of us saying, ?Well, why don't you just take another
week?' It's going to be: When he's ready, he's ready."
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
|
