Jayson Tatum’s Long Road Back Takes Detour for Surprise YMCA Visit

BOSTON– 6 months.

That’s it, that’s the tweet.

On Tuesday, Jayson Tatum took to his account on X, formerly Twitter notifying fans that he had officially hit the 6 month mark since undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured achilles tendon.

Tatum has been very visible in his recovery efforts and vocal about his desire to return to the court this season. The Celtics star sat down for an exclusive interview with Noa Dalzell of SB Nation & CLNS Media where he discussed where he’s at in his recovery process.

“I mean, yeah, I’ve been working my butt off, for the last 24 weeks now,” Tatum told Dalzell.  “Just trying to get healthy and trying to get 100%, and it’s just something that that motivates me, right? Every day I go to rehab and workout and I’m on the court, you know, something that I can, try to get to it’s like a goal, you know, myself and challenging myself every day.”

Tatum spoke to Dalzell following a surprise appearance at the Wang YMCA in Chinatown for an NBA Cares event centered around unveiling a newly renovated indoor basketball court. Tatum spent the afternoon playing basketball and board games with the kids and talked about why doing something like this is so important to him.

“My first memory of playing basketball was at the YMCA back in Saint Louis. I used to look forward to it. Saturday mornings, you know, when I was in 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade, even kindergarten, going to play at the YMCA on Saturday, and that’s really where, you know, I was playing organized basketball and I fell in love with the game. That’s just kind of where it all started for me.”

Another way Tatum has stayed connected is by being around the Celtics as much as possible. He arrived at the event in Chinatown just hours after landing from New Orleans where the Celtics captured their first win of the season on Monday.

Tatum says it’s been difficult for him to not be able to be out there and help his team which has struggled in his absence, starting the season 1 and 3.

“It’s tough, you know. Still rehabbing and I’m getting better every day, but I’m not able to play yet, so, it was my first time starting the season and not being out there,” Tatum said. “I love to play, I love to compete and not being able to be out there with the team, it’s already tough enough, but I think just still traveling and being with them during meetings and the game and practicing shooting around, still trying to feel, as much a part of the team as I can, I think, really helps my mental health a lot.”

And added benefit to traveling with the team and not playing, Tatum gets to soak in the NBA atmosphere on the road and see just how many fans he and the Celtics have outside of Boston.

“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.”