Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, where the Boston Celtics played against the New York Knicks. His injury is believed to put him out of action for the entirety of the 2025-2026 NBA season, but Tatum is not shutting the door on a return this season. During his interview with The Today Show on Wednesday, Tatum expressed that he is not rushing his recovery. Yet, he remained open to the possibility of returning to the Celtics this year.“Not rushing it. But I haven't said like, 'Yo, I'm not playing this season,' or anything like that," he said. Tatum had the surgery to repair his ACL in May, making him four months into his recovery. The usual timeline for such an injury in the NBA is a season-long layoff. Tatum led the Celtics to the 2024 NBA championship, before getting bounced out last season in six games against the Knicks. Last year, he put up 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game in 72 games during the regular season. The Celtics have since engineered their roster with the assumption of Tatum not returning this season. The team has since traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, both of whom have played key roles in the title run. The Celtics finished second in the East last season with 61 wins against 21 losses. Jayson Tatum keeps in touch with other injured players in his recoveryJayson Tatum was one of the several NBA stars who suffered a debilitating injury during the 2025 NBA playoffs. According to Tatum, he has since kept in touch with some of them during his recovery, such as Damian Lillard, Tyrese Haliburton, and Dejounte Murray, who ruptured his Achilles during the regular season last year. "We've all been in communication ... Dejounte, Dame, Tyrese," Tatum said during ESPN's First Take last Wednesday. "We're all at different points in our recovery. I text them all the time to ask what can you do, and what are you doing in your workouts. We're all in the same boat, just kind of checking in on each other."Ex-Milwaukee Bucks star Lillard tore his Achilles during the first round of the East playoffs, while Haliburton got his injury during Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics will be facing the Philadelphia 76ers in Oct. 22 to open their 2025-2026 regular season.