BOSTON — These days, Jayson Tatum typically stands a few feet away from the Celtics’ huddle during timeout breaks. He dons street clothes and often chats with opposing team’s players, who come by to check in on his recovery from an Achilles tendon rupture.
One day, it’s Knicks guard Jalen Brunson; the next, it’s Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan. Sometimes, the check-ins come from NBA referees who offer their well-wishes, the same officials Tatum once squabbled with now sending their love as he continues his rehab.
All of it is a part of a challenging new reality for the Celtics star, who is indefinitely sidelined to begin the NBA season for the first time in his career.
“It’s tough,” Tatum told SB Nation in a sit-down interview on Tuesday afternoon, just hours after he returned from a three-game Celtics road trip. “I love to play, I love to compete.”
But the injury has also made those timeout breaks extra meaningful: they’re an opportunity for the Celtics star to scan the crowd for young fans who just might be attending their only Celtics game all year.
And, when he quickly identifies those fans, he smiles, waves, or offers a thumbs up, all gestures he admits are intentional.
“There are a lot of Celtics fans when we travel on the road,” he said. “And I think, in a humble way, there’s a lot of Jayson Tatum fans out there. There are some cities, like New Orleans, where we only come once a year. I understand the value for people who only get to see us once a year and try to see their favorite player play. And I’m not able to play, but I can be out there. And, maybe I can make somebody’s day if I wave at them.”
That’s been the Celtics’ star’s mindset throughout his recovery: stay as connected to his team and fanbase as possible and continue giving back — all while rehabbing tirelessly and relentlessly.
How Tatum crashed a special afternoon in downtown Boston
When the opportunity arose to surprise local Boston kids at the Wang YMCA in Chinatown on Tuesday afternoon, Tatum didn’t hesitate.
Just a few hours after the Celtics’ team plane returned from New Orleans, he stunned youth at an NBA Cares event centered around unveiling a newly renovated indoor basketball court.
The event, a 20th anniversary celebration of the NBA’s longstanding social impact program, featured former Celtics player Leon Powe, the Celtics flight crew and dancers, as well as an unnamed mystery guest.
Ahead of its start time, a swarm of kids gathered on a nearby street, hotly debating whether an actual rostered Celtic could be in attendance.
“I’m telling you, I heard that’s what it could be,” one kid belted at his incredulous friend, who began to scooter away in disbelief.
So, when it was none other than Jayson Tatum who meandered onto the court, the kids went berserk.
Tatum could hardly suppress a smile.
“Boston means so much to me, and I have an opportunity to come and connect with you guys and spend an hour and shoot around a little bit,” he told the kids after making his grand entrance. “I’m super excited.”
As promised, the six-time All-Star spent the afternoon shooting around with the kids on the court’s new hoops, competing in board games like Connect 4, and goofing off. The kids interrupted his opening remarks, and each time they yelled about his “aura,” he chuckled.
In the midst of what’s been an abnormal year, Tuesday was a chance to feel normal, immersed in a community that reminded him of the one he grew up in.
“I really enjoy things that are organic to me,” Tatum said.
Sokthea Phay, the Wang YMCA’s executive director, was stunned to see Tatum arrive at the center he’s managed for years. He was not among the select few who knew that the afternoon’s special guest was the NBA star, and even hours after the event concluded, he struggled to find the words to describe the enormity of the surprise.
“It was like early Christmas coming,” Phay said. “Jayson was larger than life. This became the grandest stage of them all. It just became a very epic center of celebrations.”
David Shapiro, the President of the Greater Boston YMCA, said it was hard to capture how much Tatum’s participation elevated the event.
“Kids get a sense of who takes interest in them, and when a guy like that, who is just so beyond a star in the NBA and in their world, and their lives, is just here, regularly walking out, engaging with them right now in the after-school room and on the court — it makes him real for them,” he said. ”And it also makes them feel like, ‘Man, we’re important. And what’s going on here is a really important thing, if this guy is showing up.”
Inside Tatum’s love for St. Louis and community
Tatum maintains that his lifelong passion for basketball was ignited at his local community center in St. Louis, the city from which he hails.
“My first memory of playing basketball was at the YMCA back in St Louis,” Tatum said. “I used to look forward to Saturday mornings, when I was in first, second, third grade, even Kindergarten — just going to play at the YMCA. That’s where I was playing organized basketball. And, I fell in love with the game.”
In our sit-down conversation, I asked Tatum why it appeared that his hometown was more central to his identity than most.
Everyone is from somewhere.
But for many, that somewhere doesn’t continue to play such a defining role.
“A lot of people from St Louis kind of carry a chip on their shoulder,” Tatum explained. “When I was younger, there weren’t a lot of positive things talked about where I was from. I felt like we were always overlooked, always felt like I heard about kids in New York or North Carolina or Texas or California, or Chicago. I never felt like I heard them talk about people or kids from St Louis, basketball-wise. So I just always made it a commitment to myself that I was going to be one of the best — and I was gonna let everybody know where I was from. And, I’ve tried to stick to that.”
Thus, when the lifelong dream of becoming an NBA star was actualized, he knew that he wanted to invest back into the same community centers that invested in him throughout his youth.
Over the past six years, Tatum’s foundation (fittingly named the Jayson Tatum Foundation) has completely renovated the gyms of the community center he grew up in, the Wohl Recreation Center.
Every year, the foundation runs toy, winter coat, backpack, and diaper drives, as well as Thanksgiving turkey giveaways.
The Foundation hosts financial literacy and home loan workshops as part of Tatum’s partnership with SoFi, stocks the center’s lab with devices, and provides college scholarships for St. Louis graduating seniors and grants to prospective homeowners, among a slew of other initiatives.
Most of the work flies under the radar, though some of it, like his free basketball camp and charity golf tournament, is more visible.
Tatum is completely unconcerned with the media coverage, either way.
“As long as the impact is felt, and I’m impacting and changing lives back home, that’s most important,” he said.
Following Tuesday’s event, the NBA has committed to making a sizable financial contribution to the St. Louis YMCA on behalf of the Jayson Tatum Foundation. On the heels of that investment, he intends to spearhead increased programming at the St. Louis YMCA, in addition to his continued work at the Wohl Rec Center.
Leon Powe, who now serves as a community ambassador for the Celtics, said that Tatum’s deep-rooted involvement in the community epitomizes Celtics culture.
“They all embody it,” Powe told SB Nation of the current Celtics’ players’ genuine care for the community. “We make that a staple out here, because we want to be one with the community.”
Jayson Tatum continues to eye a return to the court
Tuesday marked exactly six months since the day of Tatum’s injury, a milestone he noted to his followers on Twitter/X.
He will never deny how challenging this journey has been. Immediately after his surgery, Tatum mostly kept to himself, living at his mom’s house and spending every day rehabbing at the Celtics practice facility.
While still wearing a boot, he made his first public appearance in July at his youth basketball camp in St. Louis.
A few days later, he turned to Twitter with a simple message:
In hindsight, Tatum credits a week spent in his hometown as serving as one of the most pivotal stretches in his rehab. It was a wildly different visit from his previous St. Louis trip, in which he brought home the Larry O’Brien trophy and celebrated his first-ever NBA championship in the neighborhood that raised him.
But it was nonetheless enormously gratifying.
“It was a breath of fresh air to go back home and be around all that energy and support and love,” he said. “I think at that time, during my rehab, it really helped me out.”
Today, St. Louis is undoubtedly Celtics country.
“Everybody back home is a Celtics fan,” Tatum said. “And, I’m just a small-town, small-city kid making his dreams come true, and never forgetting where I come from, and just always trying to get back every chance I can.“
Tatum won’t be returning to the floor anytime soon. But, that hasn’t stopped him from attending all team events and traveling to preseason and regular season games. He’s thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the team despite being indefinitely sidelined.
“Not being able to be out there with the team is already tough enough,” Tatum said. “But still traveling and being with them during meetings and game[s] and practices and shootarounds, still trying to feel as much a part of the team as I can, I think it really helps my mental health a lot.”
Experts say there is no downside to having Tatum regularly travel. They also made clear that though there’s no inherent risk in returning to play later this season, so long as Tatum is completely recovered, both physically and psychologically.
Dr. Lou Soslowsky, the founding director of the Penn Achilles Tendinopathy Center of Research Translation, told SB Nation that Tatum’s unique situation — from his previous health to his quick surgery timeline — means that it’s challenging to determine what a “normal” recovery timeline would look like.
“The sample size of how many people who’ve been in his situation is very small, even compared to other professional athletes,” Soslosky said. “So we’re trying to extrapolate data from the population to a guy like Jayson Tatum, who is young, extraordinarily healthy, extraordinarily committed, who has the resources of a professional sports team at his disposal, who is committed to do everything he possibly can to come back. That’s not the data we have, right?”
Whether Tatum returns to action this year remains to be seen.
Celtics leadership — from Wyc Grousbeck to Brad Stevens to Joe Mazzulla — has stressed there is no timeline and absolutely no rush. The most important thing is a full recovery, whenever that might be.
But Tatum is still eyeing a return this season.
It’s lit a fire inside of him.
“I’ve been working my butt off for the last 24 weeks now, just trying to get healthy and trying to get 100% and it’s just something that motivates me,” he said. “Every day, I go to rehab and work out, and I’m on the court. [Coming back this year] is something I can try to get to. It’s a goal for myself. I challenge myself every day.”
