Is the old Jayson Tatum back? How the Celtics star has looked in his return so far

Who doesn’t love a good return, am I right? Your favorite artist making new music, a superhero saving the day, a TV couple finally answering the “Will they or won’t they get back together?” question. There’s a joy that comes with it. It’s like anything is possible. Jon Snow rose from the dead, Snooki went back to the Jersey Shore house, order has been restored.

Basketball, of course, has had its fair share too. From “Here comes Willis!” to Magic Johnson at the 1992 All-Star Game to “I’m back,” etc., etc.

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The latest entry is, of course, Jayson Tatum, who went from a ruptured Achilles in May 2025 to playing NBA basketball in March 2026. That feat alone should be applauded, the effort and determination to make it happen should be celebrated.

The thing about a return, though, is the second that moment sticks there is a harsh reality of: “What’s next?” The games stack and that adrenaline is replaced with a reminder of expectations. Those expectations could be accelerated by the Boston Celtics being the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, or because of the All-NBA form Tatum was in pre-injury. With a (small) sample size, how do we evaluate a player who wasn’t likely to return, on a team that wasn’t expected to do all of this?

The reintegration of Jayson Tatum

The Celtics are 6-2 in games that Tatum has played in, so hopefully we can throw a bow on the Jaylen Brown/Tatum discourse for a beat. There’s a familiarity that exists, but also reintegration that must take place.

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All season long the Celtics’ roster has understood the assignment. Offensively, without Tatum, we saw ball movement in the half-court, an effort to get to drive-and-kick, off-ball movement and (of course) a lot of 3s. Very little of that has to go away with Tatum returning, and to a degree it gives Tatum more margin for error. As he works to find his rhythm and confidence, it could help not having to make every single play.

Something that flies under the radar is what the Celtics’ offense can do as far as opening up shots and…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/is-the-old-jayson-tatum-back-how-the-celtics-star-has-looked-in-his-return-so-far-162712747.html

Author : Steve Jones

Publish date : 2026-03-25 16:27:00

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