Tatum aiming for early return

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum says he hasn’t ruled out a return to the National Basketball Association (NBA) this season as he continues his recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

“I haven’t said I’m not playing this season,” Tatum said on NBC’s Today show on Tuesday, telling interviewers that the timing of his return “is the million-dollar question.”

Tatum was carried off the court in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the Celtics’ Eastern Conference semi-finals loss to the New York Knicks and had surgery on 13 May.

Rehabilitation from such an injury could typically span an entire season, and Tatum, a six-time NBA All-Star and a member of the USA’s Olympic gold medal-winning teams at the Tokyo and Paris Games, said he wouldn’t rush a return.

“I think for me and my team, the doctors, the organization, the most important thing is making a full recovery, being back 100 percent, not rushing it,” he said.

“I have a goal in mind,” he added. “What I will say is I’m not working out, rehabbing six days a week for no reason.”

Tatum was among seven NBA players who suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon last season, a spate of similar injuries that prompted the league to launch an investigation into possible causes.