Jayson Tatum's injury predicted as nightmare outcome by ex-Knick

When Jayson Tatum went down, it felt like a once-rowdy Madison Square stood still. 

The rest of the sports world was frozen too and will stay there until more news comes out about Tatum. 

One NBA analyst and former player already has his prediction for Tatum's fate.

"It seems like it's going to be an Achilles," Jalen Rose said on NBA TV after game 4 of the series.

It would be a miserable turn of events for the Celtics, not just in a playoff series where their season is on the line, but for next season as well.

Rose alluded to the long road to recovery Tatum could face if the prediction is true.

"Those things take a season or so to recover from," Rose said. "It puts a question mark already on next season for a team that was defending world champions."

Jalen Rose believes Jayson Tatum may have hurt his Achilles pic.twitter.com/zSqcTR12t9

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Head coach Joe Mazzulla has said it's a lower-body injury, but that they won't know more until after an MRI.

Boston has the second-highest payroll in the league at $201.6 million. Tatum represents a quarter of that next season at $54 million in 2025-26.

The Celtics still have a ton of talent, but losing Tatum would hamper them from competing with the top teams in the conference. 

Billy Heyen of The Sporting News suggested that Tatum's injury could trigger Boston to rebuild and trade some of its best players.

"If they ever wanted to pursue re-tooling, this would be the chance," Heyen wrote. "Brown could command multiple draft assets back. The Knicks traded five first-rounders to get Mikal Bridges. Who's to say Boston couldn't get a similar haul for Brown?"

If Rose's prediction comes true, it could set off an avalanche for a franchise that hoisted the Larry O'Brien trophy just a year ago.