After Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, a lot of people in the league thought he would not be back until the 2026-27 NBA season. Yet, the latest videos and reports show that he’s back on the floor and might be ready to come back sometime during the upcoming season.
The question is: should he do it? Are there any risks of coming back too soon from an injury? Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is a rare example of someone who has managed to come back less than a year after tearing their Achilles. But as Lakers fans know all too well, that might have set the team back.
Jayson Tatum Should Avoid Repeating Kobe Bryant’s Mistake
Bryant suffered his Achilles injury in April 2013, just as the season was winding down. With a 43-37 record, that team was one of the last with a chance to compete. The Lakers even brought in Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to help him and Pau Gasol win what would likely be their last ring. Though L.A. would win their final two games and clinching a playoff spot, they needed the head of the snake in the postseason.
But with the Black Mamba out, the Lakers lost in the first round to the San Antonio Spurs.
After the injury, Bryant went to surgeon Neal ElAttrache, who uses a different technique for the Achilles repair. The technique is minimally invasive and light stitching, with his patients walking sooner than other people. True to character, he continued to push and work tirelessly, eventually coming back in December 2013. Only eight months, 240 days to be specific, had passed since the injury.
The real and surreal collided soon after. Just six games into the 2013-14 season, Bryant suffered a lateral tibia plateau fracture in his left knee. The injury occurred during a spin move and caused the 35-year-old to miss the remainder of the season.
Many Lakers fans will tell you that they believe Bryant rushed back. His body was overcompensating for the loss of muscle in his calf. The result was a tibia injury, causing a significant compressive load on the knee joint. He was never the same after that injury. His later years could have been more productive if he had taken more time to come back. He played 35 and 66 games for the next two seasons, respectively, but it was clear he didn’t have the movement he had before.
Similarities Between Tatum and Kobe’s Injuries
Here’s a ‘fun’ fact: both Bryant and Tatum suffered their Achilles injury in the fourth quarter, with little over three minutes left to play. Fatigue probably played a role.
That’s where similarities should end. For the Boston Celtics and for Tatum’s sake, he should follow 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant’s path, not Kobe’s. If Tatum rushes back to the court, which seems likely at this point, he might be risking other potential injuries on his body.
Tatum is still 27 years old, has won a championship, and should have plenty of productive years ahead of him. In fact, some might say Durant was better after he came back from injury. That alone should give him reason to correct his course.
Tatum Idolizes Kobe
It is no secret that Tatum is one of Bryant’s biggest fans. He idolizes him and grew up wanting to be like him. In one of his recent interviews, he talked about it, saying:
“When I got to the NBA, he used to do that detail thing on ESPN, and he did an episode on me right in the playoffs. After that, we connected, and I got to pick his brain. I worked out with him, so he was a big help to me.”
In the same interview, Tatum talked about how Kobe changed his mindset, saying:
“I remember the first time we worked out, he asked me a question, like, how much does it mean to you. That was just a powerful thing because you think about all the things that he sacrificed and how hard he worked. So, he asked How much does it mean to you to be one of the greatest?”
That’s the mentality that drove Bryant to come back sooner than expected. But that did him no good. In fact, one might say that L.A. could have been better if he hadn’t rushed back (and then signed an enormous contract extension). After his injury, the Lakers missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons. It took LeBron James and Anthony Davis to bring them back to relevance and a championship in 2020.
So, Tatum’s love for KB24 is well-documented. But again, this is one path he shouldn’t follow. Though ‘Mamba Mentality’ is awesome, there’s also a time and place for everything.
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