In a positive development after an extremely difficult stretch, St. Louisan Jayson Tatum is nearing a return to the Boston Celtics.
Tatum suffered a ruptured Achilles in a postseason game on May 12, 2025. By his count Tatum has been rehabbing for 39 weeks. And the process has been mentally and physically draining. But earlier this week Tatum made another step in his comeback by practicing with the G-League Maine Celtics. Boston fans are all but hyperventilating in anticipation of Tatum’s reappearance in the starting lineup.
Tatum declined to offer a timetable. “It’s been a long journey,” he told the media that cover the Celtics. “And it’s just like the progression of rehab. It was the next step. Doesn’t mean that I’m coming back or I’m not. It’s just following the plan. So it’s just another step.”
He added: “I’m feeling good.”
Over his first eight NBA seasons before being felled by the drastic injury, Tatum led the Celtics in total points, rebounds, assists, steals, three-point baskets, two-point baskets and made free throws. He was also second in blocked shots.
Across those eight seasons Tatum was a four-time, first-team All NBA selection, was chosen for six NBA All-Star games, was a first-team All-Rookie selection, was named the 2022 Eastern Conference finals MVP, and was voted MVP of the 2023 All-Star game.
Tatum played a starring role in Boston’s run to the 2024 NBA championship. And in Celtics history the only three players to have more career postseason points than Tatum are Larry Bird, John Havlicek and Kevin McHale. Not bad!
Though the Celtics (34-19) have done well without Tatum this season – they rank second in the East and fourth overall in winning percentage – he would likely give them a boost in the postseason … even in a limited role.
Asked about fitting in with the team if he returns, Tatum acknowledged the potential difficulties.
“Yeah, I mean, it might look different,” he said. “I haven’t played with these guys or with this group. But, a lot of high IQ guys out there. I like to consider myself one of those types of players. So if that did present itself, and if I did come back, we professionals will figure it out.”
Will he feel hesitation about coming back after such an extensive time away from the court?
“I think just, over 39 weeks (away), you have a lot of time on your hands,” Tatum said. “You think about a lot of things, and you’re just hyper-aware of what’s going on. And I think it would just stem from that. Obviously, I know what I bring to the table and bring to the team. But I’m also aware that these guys have been playing extremely well. And not to say that I would come and mess it up or anything like that. It was just kind of being vulnerable, I guess, for a moment, and talking from that perspective.”
Tatum on the long, hard rehab: “Mentally it’s been tough. It’s been exhausting. I can’t stress it enough, it’s been 39 weeks. It’s been a lot of different phases throughout this process. But the organization has been there to support me, friends, family, the whole nine. I’ve had a lot of support throughout this.”
Does he trust the healed Achilles? “I always say I feel a little bit better today than I did yesterday, so physical conditioning, trusting it, every day I just feel a little bit better,” he said.
What’s next? “Just more conditioning, more live things, getting acclimated to playing five-on-five and contact and stuff like that … I’m still just going through the progressions of rehab. I’m not saying I’m coming back or I’m not. It’s all about being 100% healthy and going through the plan of this protocol.”
Being around his teammates has been good for Tatum’s soul. “Because these are like my brothers,” he said. “I know I’m injured and not playing, but I’d like to think I’m still very much part of the team. When you’re out and injured you can feel isolated because you’re not playing, so just being around, encouraging them, and being around as much as possible is good for me and my spirits. Just being around as much as I can.”
It will be great to see Tatum in the shamrocks again.
BY THE WAY, ABOUT THE NBA
This isn’t intended as a ranking, but here’s my list of the greatest NBA players with St. Louis-area backgrounds:
Jo Jo White
Jayson Tatum
Easy Ed Macauley
Bill Bradley
Larry Hughes
Bradley Beal
Bob Kurland
Steve Stipanovich
David Lee
Harry Gallatin
LaPhonso Ellis
David Thirdkill
Anthony Bonner
Jim Krebs
Darius Miles
Jahidi White
Otto Porter Jr.
Bob Ferry Sr.
Rich Niemann
Lee Winfield
Loren Woods
Patrick McCaw
Cuonzo Martin
Malcolm Hill
Saben Lee
Gene Moore (ABA)
Blake Ahearn
Jay Miller
Ben McLemore
Bevo Nordmann
Tyler Cook
Robin Jones
Caleb Love
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Josh Harrellson
Giff Roux
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AS OTHERS SEE US
I’m passing along some noteworthy commentary presented by national media reporters, columnists, bloggers and video producers on the Cardinals.
BASEBALL PROSPECTUS: The PECOTA system forecasts 65.9 wins for the 2026 Cardinals, and I’ll just go ahead and round that off to 66. As for the rest of the NL Central, the projections have 90 wins for the Cubs (that’s all?), 80 for the Brewers (underestimating them again), 80 wins for the Pirates (I can see that), and 79 wins for a Reds team that has built a terrific player-development system with a lot of swell young pitching … but the front office is just sort of leaving there without much time or money spent on improving the foundation.
As for the Cardinals, here’s BP writer Timothy Jackson, who lumped St. Louis in with the Angels in terms of quality and outlook …
“This is the muck PECOTA loves to shuck,” he wrote. “It’s not exactly endearing, but the Cardinals have at least set upon an actual course. Gone are Sonny Gray, Brendan Donovan, and Nolan Arenado. (Note from Bernie: for some reason the author didn’t mention the trade departure of Willson Contreras.) Not yet arrived are Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman, and their time might be running out, anyway. Lars Nootbaar is a lot less novel these days when he’s being counted on as the big piece. The farm system bears both promise and depth, but it’s far off enough that you need binoculars to see it right now.”
DO NOT START JORDAN BINNINGTON! That’s the warning from hockey analyst Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic as Team Canada prepares for its Olympics opener (against Team Czechia) on Thursday.
“There is a high likelihood that Canada makes the wrong choice in net by starting Jordan Binnington, one of the league’s worst goalies this season,” Dom wrote. “It’s that decision alone that has massive ramifications for Canada’s quest for gold and puts the Canadians neck-and-neck with the Americans going into the tournament. What was once a somewhat marginal choice among arguably average options amid a nationwide goaltending crisis has now become a major storyline heading into the tournament.”
Luszczyszyn is pleading with Canada coach John Cooper to start Logan Thompson (Capitals) over Binnington, the struggling St. Louis goaltender.
“Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, the chasm between Binnington and Thompson has grown to an extreme point, so much so that starting the former has turned into a genuinely risky decision,” Dom wrote. “Going into the first game against Group A’s top opponent, it’s a risk Canada can’t take.”
Cooper has declined to name his choice in goal for Thursday’s opener. He did say “there’s a really good chance that Canada will start two different goalies in its first two games. After facing Czechia on Thursday, Canada faces Switzerland the next day.
Among 33 NHL goaltenders that have played at least 1,450 minutes this season, Binnington ranks last in save percentage (.864), is last in Goals Saved Above Average (minus 25.4) and is next to last in goals-against average (3.65). Thompson and Darcy Kuemper (Kings) have been much better than Binnington. But maybe his big-game genetics will save the day for Team Canada.
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SORRY, BUT I NEED A BARF BAG
Former Cardinals pitcher is joining the Washington Nationals. His big-league career continues.
Career major-league salary earnings:
– Bob Gibson, Hall of Famer, one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history, an estimated $1.75 million (total) from 1959 through 1975.
– Miles Mikolas, “innings eater,” wearer of funny hats, a pitcher who attributed his bad starts to unfortunate bounces and unlucky breaks, the Florida fisherman, the charmer who had the reliably gullible St. Louis media eating up his “great and colorful” quotes which were not great or gullible … yeah that guy … a total of $114.3 million (total) collected as a big-league chucker. And still counting.
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STAT OF THE DAY
Good luck to Juan Yepez (I’m being sincere) who signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays. Yepez had a brutal 2025 season derailed by injuries, and I hope he can bounce back. He may get some big-league time because the Blues Jays reached out after losing outfielder Anthony Santander to shoulder surgery.
Here’s the stat: the only Cardinal to hit a postseason home run over the last five seasons wasn’t Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan or Lars Nootbaar …
Nope. The only Cardinal to go deep in a postseason game over the last five years was Juan Yepez. (Well, the Cardinals have played only three postseason games since 2021, but I digress.) That beautiful shot by Yepez – a two-run pinch homer in the bottom of the 7th – gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead in Game 1 of the NL wild-card round series. The Phillies were on the ropes … until closer Ryan Helsley fur-balled up the lead with a ninth-inning meltdown. The Phillies won 6-3 and put away the shaken, lifeless Cardinals in Game 2. Season over.
Here’s another little ol’ stat from that 2022 wild-card series:
– Corey Dickerson and Juan Yepez, combined: 4 for 11, a homer and two RBIs.
– Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, combined: 1 for 16, six strikeouts.
In a sign of things to come, The Best Fans In Baseball showed up for a sellout crowd of 48,515 in Game 1 of that Philly series. But in Game 2 – the final game for Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina as Cardinals – The BFIB supported their Redbirds with a non-sellout crowd of 42,203. Sad.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach. Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Ozzie Smith. Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith, Chris Pronger and Aeneas Williams. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STL Sports Central, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.