Does Tatum's new docuseries offer a clue about Celtics star's return? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum has been tight-lipped about when he might return from the ruptured Achilles he suffered last May. In fact, the Boston Celtics star says he still hasn’t decided if he’ll come back this season or wait until the 2026-27 campaign.
There have been breadcrumbs, however. And Tatum dropped another sizable one Sunday night.
Tatum posted a 90-second video on his YouTube page that was described as a trailer for “The Quiet Work,” a five-part docuseries that follows the All-Star forward throughout his recovery from Achilles surgery.
Here’s the full description of the docuseries, via Tatum’s YouTube page:
For the first time in his life, the game that defined Jayson Tatum was taken away by an Achilles injury. The five-part docuseries THE QUIET WORK follows Jayson through the most challenging stretch of his career as he fights to return to the NBA. From the locker room to the hospital room, through rehab and recovery, and ultimately back to the court, this is the unseen side of his journey and the work no one ever witnesses. Until now.
The docuseries will air every Sunday night on NBC in between the network’s East Coast and West Coast Sunday Night Basketball games, per Tatum’s YouTube page.
And as it just so happens, the league announced Friday that Boston’s March 1 game against the Philadelphia 76ers is being moved from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET … and will be broadcast on NBC. (The game also will air locally on NBC Sports Boston.)
Again, this is all just speculation. But Tatum making his season debut at TD Garden against an Eastern Conference rival in primetime on the network that’s airing his docuseries would make a whole lot of sense. (Did we mention March 1 is also two days before his 28th birthday?)
March 1 is still 13 days away, so it’s much too soon to make any firm declarations about the likelihood of Tatum returning on that date. But here’s what we do know: Tatum went through 5-on-5 scrimmage work during a practice with the G League Maine Celtics on Monday and since has joined the parent club to participate in practices.
The Celtics are off until Thursday, when they’ll begin a four-game West Coast trip in Golden State against the Warriors. Tatum has said he wants his return to be a home game, and if that holds true, the earliest he could come back would be Feb. 27 against the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden.
The C’s then host the Sixers on March 1, visit the Milwaukee Bucks the following day on March 2, then return to Boston to face the Charlotte Hornets on March 4 and the Dallas Mavericks on March 6.
“I’m still trying to figure it out,” Tatum told reporters Tuesday about his potential return. “Still just going through the progressions of rehab. I’m not saying that I’m coming back or I’m not. It’s all about being 100 percent healthy and just going through the plan of this protocol.”
Both Tatum and the team have been very deliberate about his rehab, so if anyone in the organization deems he’s not 100 percent when the calendar flips to March, his return will have to wait. But if Tatum’s practices go smoothly over the next couple weeks, it sure sounds like the stars are aligning for the superstar to rejoin the squad not too long after the All-Star break.