Jayson Tatum and his return from a devastating Achilles injury continues to draw attention across the NBA, and even opposing stars are taking notice.
After the Boston Celtics secured a 109–98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, several players spoke about Tatum’s impact and how impressive his comeback has looked less than a year removed from the injury.
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell admitted that seeing Tatum perform so effectively after such a serious setback was notable.
“He looks good,” Mitchell said in his postgame interview after Cleveland’s loss. “I think there’s obviously some hesitancy, naturally. I mean, it’s been 300 days. But you see how he started the game. Even the slow start against Dallas, all it takes is a few moves — that can be an Achilles, that can be coming back from a groin — all you need is a few moves to be like, ‘Alright,’ and then you’re back to it.
“But he looks really good for someone [that missed] 10 months. It’s impressive.”
Veteran guard James Harden also acknowledged the significance of Tatum’s return and the mindset required to recover from such a major injury.
“Getting to his spots, making shots,” Harden said while discussing the matchup. “Obviously, having him in the mix is key for them, but they do an unbelievable job of just creating advantages; a well-coached team, and they played well today.
“I just told him, you see a young guy, especially of that caliber, who had so much success and won a championship, and then, boom, adversity hits. For him to have the mindset of nothing can slow him down and stop him, and then he comes back, first game back, he plays well; tonight, he plays well. I think that’s an inspiration in itself.
“I told everybody, that’s the standard right there,” Harden said. “That’s the standard. Part of the game of basketball is missing and making shots, but, like, our competitive nature, our competitive spirit, for a game — no matter if we’re making shots or not — that’s what we do. And we forced the game to be in our hands. And I think that second half, we found something in ourselves.
