Jayson Tatum Achilles injury recovery time: How long will Celtics star be out after devastating injury?

The Celtics were already believed to be heading into an offseason of at least some change due to salary cap constraints, but an apparent Achilles tear for Jayson Tatum on Monday night cast even more uncertainty over Boston's path forward.

Tatum went down with a non-contact injury late in the Celtics' Game 4 loss to the Knicks, and replay showed most of the telltale signs of an Achilles injury. He was unable to put any weight on his leg and was seen in a wheelchair after going down the tunnel.

Boston was already on the verge of going down 3-1 in the series when Tatum got hurt, but the defending champions' hopes of a comeback took a major hit with the injury — and the ramifications are set to bleed well into next season.

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Here's a closer look at Tatum's projected recovery time and how the Celtics' 2025-26 season could be impacted.

Jayson Tatum Achilles injury recovery time

An Achilles tear typically comes with a 10-month recovery time for NBA players, ESPN found, though the range can sit between seven months and a full year.

While the injury was once career-threatening in the NBA, medical treatment has improved to the point that a return to the court can be safely assumed. Achilles tears also lead to concerns about decreased explosiveness for a player, but Kevin Durant was largely able to be the same All-NBA player he was before his injury in 2019. Tatum is just 27, so those concerns likely aren't as significant.

What is significant for the Celtics is the injury's impact on Tatum's 2025-26 season. The quickest an NBA player has ever returned from a torn Achilles was 7.5 months by Wesley Matthews, who went down in 2015. That means the bare minimum recovery time would keep Tatum out until the calendar flips to 2026. The average 10-month recovery time would keep Tatum out until mid-March of next season, forcing the All-Star to miss all but one month of the regular season.

The Nets held Kevin Durant out of the entire 2019-20 season as he recovered from a torn Achilles, even when he was more than a year removed from surgery in the 2020 bubble. If the Celtics' season doesn't go the direction they are hoping it goes, the possibility of Tatum sitting out the entire year is something to consider.

Tatum has age on his side, unlike Bucks guard Damian Lillard, but his first major injury in the NBA is set to sideline him for the bulk of the 2025-26 season.

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Jayson Tatum injury history

This is uncharted territory for Tatum, who has stayed remarkably durable during his career. The 27-year-old has never missed more than five consecutive games in his eight seasons, and even that absence was the result of a positive COVID-19 test rather than an injury.

While Tatum has dealt with minor injuries, his most consequential ailment before Monday's injury was arguably the wrist issue that forced him to miss a playoff game for the first time in the Celtics' first round series against the Magic. Now, Tatum is facing the first extended absence of his career — and Boston's championship hopes in both 2025 and 2026 are on hold.