Jayson Tatum has surgery to repair ruptured Achilles tendon
Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics injures his ankle against the New York Knicks during the fourth quarter in Game Four at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Credit: Getty Images/Elsa
BOSTON — Celtics star Jayson Tatum had surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon Tuesday, the team announced.
Tatum crumpled to the Madison Square Garden court without contact with 3:07 left in the Knicks’ 121-113 victory in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series Monday. As OG Anunoby raced down the floor for a dunk after making a steal, Tatum writhed on the floor, grabbing his lower leg.
Tatum, who scored 42 points in the game, had to be helped off the floor and was later shown crying as he was wheeled to the Celtics’ locker room.
Recovery from an Achilles injury usually is a 12-month process. Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant lost an entire season after suffering Achilles injuries.
Much of the postgame media availability Monday focused on Tatum’s injury, as the Celtics were asked about a potentially devastating turn to their season.
“Obviously, you’re always worried about someone’s health, so the fact that he had to be carried off, he’s the type of guy that usually gets right back up,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “It’s tough to watch a guy like him get carried off like that.”
“Obviously, that’s our brother, and you hate to see him go down,” teammate Derrick White said. “We just know the type of guy he is and it’s tough to see him go down. Obviously, right now it’s pretty low because of the game, but we’ve just got to find a way to win Game 5.”
The Celtics weren’t the only ones concerned about Tatum. The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson began his postgame news conference by sending “thoughts and prayers” to Tatum. Karl-Anthony Towns expressed his concern, saying, “I’m praying for him. If you saw me on the court, I wanted to pray for him. It looked bad. Prayers to him and his family. You never want to see anybody in the NBA get hurt like that.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
