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Charles Barkley: Jayson Tatum should do this as part of his rehab from torn Achilles
"Obviously you’ve got your own doctors, but the best experience is somebody who's already experienced it before."
Jayson Tatum is staring at a long road back to the hardwood after rupturing his Achilles tendon on Monday night in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Not only does that injury end Tatum’s 2024-25 season as the Celtics sit on the brink of elimination at the hands of Knicks, but it could also put Tatum’s 2025-26 season in jeopardy.
Speaking on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” on Tuesday evening, former NBA stars Charles Barkley and Jalen Rose both bemoaned Tatum’s fortunes after suffering such an injury.
In Rose’s eyes, a healthy Tatum was poised to cement his legacy as one of the game’s all-time greats had he led Boston to back-to-back championships in postseason.
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“He’s a winner. He’s a champion,” Rose said of Tatum. “And as you mentioned — seeing him get injured on a non-contact injury, especially at this point of the season, because I looked at this playoff as gonna be his chance to show the world that he could be the face of the league,” Rose said. “He didn’t play during the USA Basketball Gold Medal game in [the Olympics].
“And I know being a champion, usually, that gets your summer going … and then Jaylen Brown won Finals MVP. So I feel like Jayson Tatum was going to use this as a breakout moment and repeat for the Celtics. And getting hurt at this point of the season, it affects next season.”
While injuries are inevitable on the hardwood, Barkley acknowledged the cruel twist of fate that a durable star player like Tatum was eventually felled by such an inconsequential play.
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“It’s really unfortunate,” Barkley said. “But the thing that sucks: you probably have done that a million times in your life, and that time — you blow out your Achilles. That’s a play you make 1000 times a game. You just push off your leg. And so injuries are just luck of the draw.”
The Celtics noted that Tatum already underwent a “successful” surgery on Tuesday to repair his torn Achilles, but added that “no timetable is currently available for his return.”
Tatum could follow a similar script as Kevin Durant when it comes to his return from an Achilles tear.
Durant suffered a torn Achilles tendon during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, forcing him to miss the entire 2019-20 season before he played in 35 games during the 2020-21 campaign.
Despite missing nearly 18 months of action, Durant seemingly hasn’t missed a beat since coming back from such a career-shifting injury. Since the 2021-22 season, Durant has averaged 36.7 minutes, 28.0 points, and 6.6 rebounds per game over the last four years.
Jayson Tatum
Given Durant’s success story, Barkley believes that Tatum should reach out to his former Team USA teammate for guidance during his arduous rehab process.
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“First call I would make is to Kevin Durant — because same thing I told [Victor] Wembanyama about blood clots: my first call would have been to Chris Bosh [who dealt with a similar ailment]. If I’m Jayson, I call Kevin Durant,” Barkley said. “I think I saw today that Kevin Durant is six years removed from the time he blew out his Achilles, and he’s still a hell of a player.
“So that’s the first person I would call and says, ‘Hey, tell me about what’s going to happen, how to start the rehab.’ I mean, obviously you’ve got your own doctors, but the best experience is somebody who’s already experienced it before. That would be the first call I would make — to Kevin Durant.”
Even though the Celtics’ odds of extending their season beyond the Eastern Conference Semifinals appears slim without Tatum, Barkley doesn’t believe Boston’s title defense will end Wednesday night at TD Garden.
“The Celtics are going to win Game 5,” Barkley declared.
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