Joe Mazzulla sets the record straight on Jayson Tatum amid return uncertainty – NBC Sports Boston

Will Jayson Tatum really decide to sit out the entire 2025-26 season?

While many expected the Boston Celtics star to return at some point this season from the Achilles injury he suffered last May, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported Wednesday night that Tatum is “re-evaluating his situation” and “considering sitting out the entire 2025-26 season.”

Tatum also told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne he has yet to decide whether he’ll return this season, and admitted on a recent episode of The Pivot podcast he’s had doubts about how he’d reintegrate on a Celtics team that has exceeded expectations without him.

“[The Celtics] have an identity this year — or things that they’ve felt that has clicked for them and it’s been successful, right?” Tatum told The Pivot. “Second team in the East up to this point. So there is a thought in my head of like, how does that work?”

How much weight should we put into Tatum’s apparent doubts about returning this season, and where do the Celtics stand internally on his situation? Head coach Joe Mazzulla shared a straightforward answer Thursday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak & Bertrand radio show.

“The mindset has been relatively consistent (and) where it has been the entire season,” Mazzulla said. “We don’t know yet. It was never a yes, it was never a no. It was, ‘Let’s work as hard as you can, trusting the sports science team, trusting his development, whether it’s in the weight room, on the training table, and then put yourself in the best possible position to be as healthy as you can be, and then reevaluate it.'”

Mazzulla noted Tatum is “progressing naturally” and that there’s been “zero setback” in his rehab from a physical perspective. As for the mental piece, and Tatum’s concerns about potentially disrupting the chemistry of the current group?

“I look at disruption as a positive,” Mazzulla responded. “He’ll come back and just make us better.

“I think it’s two things. One, I think as you go through an injury and a process like this, a thousand things are going to come up. And I think one of the greatest things about a guy like Jayson is his openness and his vulnerability and his honesty about where he’s at as a player and a person. So, I think you have to reward that, and those are just natural things.

“But the second piece is, he knows that if we get him back, we’re just going to be a better team, and there’s just no ifs, ands or buts about that. He should never be worried about disrupting in a negative way, but he’ll be disrupting in a positive way because he’ll just make us better on both ends of the floor and already add to what we’ve been able to build here this season.”

The Celtics enter Thursday tied with the New York Knicks for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 29-18, and adding Tatum to that group could make them a legitimate contender this season.

As Mazzulla suggested, it’s natural for Tatum to have doubts and second-guesses as he recovers from the only major injury he’s suffered in his NBA career. But Mazzulla certainly didn’t close the door on his star player returning this season if he’s healthy enough to do so.