'Counting Down the Days…': Derrick White Gives an Insight Into Jayson Tatum Achilles Rehab

Watching Jayson Tatum doing box jumps and dunking just five months after tearing his Achilles certainly raised some eyebrows. Even his doctor, who performed the surgery, was a bit stunned to see the videos of the Boston Celtics star. Still, Tatum looks determined, and according to his teammate Derrick White, he’s desperate to get back on the court.

It’s not like Tatum’s progress with his Achilles tear is completely unheard of. Some patients do heal quickly and can start walking as early as six months after surgery. Even so, his recovery has definitely been faster than most.

To some, Tatum looks so good that they think he could make a recovery and return before the end of the upcoming season. And White feels that could very well be the case. 

“It’s been a long time for him. He’s probably been counting down the days to get on the court,” White said about Tatum’s injury recovery on the White Noise Podcast. 

Of course, the Celtics star didn’t want to confirm or deny anything. But he did admit that Tatum looked incredible in the videos and continues to impress every time he sees him around the Celtics facility. White went on to share some of the things Tatum has been doing and how quickly he’s been progressing.

“But, yeah, he’s always in there working. It’s kind of crazy, like, I don’t know anything about Achilles recovery rehab or where he should be, where he shouldn’t be,” White continued. “I know he’s in there every day working, trying to get better, trying to get better, just enjoying the journey of getting back to it as much as he can enjoy it. I mean, you don’t get to the level that he got to without being a hard worker.”

There are a lot of factors that can affect the overall timeline of recovery from an injury like this. So far, Tatum has been fortunate and seems to be on the right track. Still, there’s a long road ahead before he’s back on the court at full speed.

Even so, White is confident in his teammate’s progress. So much so that he’s genuinely enjoying watching Tatum work his way back into the fold.

“He’s kind of taken it to the rehab process now. And it’s been fun to see him and good to see him get back out there on the court and just start doing a little bit more and more.”

Given that the Celtics made a litany of moves to get under the NBA’s dreaded second apron and avoid penalties, the team is going to be cautious with Tatum’s recovery. There’s no need to rush him back since they’re entering a soft rebuild this season, so it’s unlikely we’ll see him play.

Still, the videos of him and the reports from White are encouraging. At the very least, Tatum appears to be well ahead of the traditional recovery timeline. We’ll be keeping a close eye on him as the season progresses and will report back if anything changes.