BOSTON — Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was flying high and feeling heroic in June 2024 as he helped the Green team end a 16-year title drought and celebrated with a championship parade that he described as one of the greatest experiences of his life. After about a year, it was all over. The six-time All-Star suffered an Achilles injury during the 2025 NBA Playoffs in May and was robbed of his super power: excelling in the game he loves.
An advertisement from director James Gunn superman The film depicts this tragic decline brilliantly. Tatum starred in a promotional piece that aired during the 2025 postseason and wore the iconic "S" on his chest, tying to the feelings of hope and invincibility that Superman is famous for. In fact, the lead excerpt of the ad asked if Tatum could eventually fill in and become Superman:
Jayson Tatum to star in new James Gunn commercial #superman pic.twitter.com/Q4z4OqITDl
- Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) 8 May 2025
Unfortunately, Tatum's untimely injury showed that he was not super-human after all, and Warner Bros. pulled the ad after his Achilles tear.
Jayson Tatum's journey from hero to human and back again
Unlike the caped hero above, Tatum doesn't have the luxury of being invincible. Given the fact that he had never missed more than 18 games in a single season until this year, he may have deceived the fans to some extent, however, his injury and the grueling rehab process that came with it reminded them that he is vulnerable.
“I didn’t know what it was going to be like,” Tatum said Sunday night after his recent return to the game. "You just want to be Jason Tatum and feel like yourself again. I'm not Superman, so obviously it's going to take some time."
Since walking out of the tunnel at TD Garden on March 6 to confirm his return from injury, Tatum has played brilliantly. He has scored in double figures in all eight of his contests this season and the Celtics have gone 6-2 when he has been in the starting lineup.
Jayson Tatum ran out of the TD Garden tunnel with the Jays thundering: pic.twitter.com/TJt8pnpOym
- Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) 6 March 2026
However, that doesn't mean his comeback has been seamless. The 2024 NBA champions shot less than 40% from the field during Sunday's 102-92 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and struggled in the first half before looking like themselves in the final 24 minutes of action.
"This is the first time I've been through something like this," he said in the locker room. "I mean, it's been a long time. It's been a long time since I could shoot a basketball, before I could walk. So, just game by game, trying to knock the rust off. I'm getting great spurts and moments game by game and I'm trying to put more of them together."
When he's in true "Superman" form, Tatum is tearing up defenses with his passing, leaping for rebounds, and blasting past opponents like a speeding bullet. He had moments in March — including his 24-point performance against the Golden State Warriors or his clutch bucket in transition against the Phoenix Suns — when it seemed as if he had never been injured.
Joe Mazzulla on Jayson Tatum's progress and the Celtics' overall play tonight:
"He's rebounding at a high level on both ends of the floor, playing at a fast pace, screening, making two-on-one reads."
"He's playing with a smile on his face." pic.twitter.com/OnxFnFYM9X
- Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) 19 March 2026
But, despite his gifts, Tatum has still experienced some parts where he looks a lot like Clark Kent, Superman's human alter ego who can't fly in the public eye. He missed 12 of his 15 shots in a tough win over the Memphis Grizzlies and, most recently, failed to find the bottom of the net in the first two quarters against the T-Wolves.
"It's only my eighth game, so still trying to get a feel for it," Tatum said.
Why does Jayson Tatum deserve patience?
While Tatum's occasional struggles may be frustrating for Celtics fans, one detail of Superman lore is worth remembering: Clark Kent is still Superman. Superman's suave, bespectacled face isn't as much fun as him wearing a blue, red and yellow suit and flying through the sky, but he's still the same person - and he's still heroic.
This applies to Tatum because although the 4-time All-NBA First Teamer hasn't always been at his best since suiting up again, it takes an almost super-human amount of strength to see the floor once again in less than 300 days from a painful injury.
“I had the worst injury I possibly could and I came back 10 months later [I'm] “Every game is getting a better experience,” he revealed.
So, even though Tatum may look more akin to Kent than Kal-El, remember what he had to go through to get to this point and that playing like a superstar after an Achilles rupture isn't as easy as turning into a phone booth.
"I wanted to be perfect and like first-team All-NBA Jayson Tatum," Tatum said, snapping his fingers. "But it will take time. I didn't rush the rehab process, so I can't rush it."
Tatum could soon don his cape when the Celtics host the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who have won 12 consecutive games, on Wednesday night. But even if the 28-year-old has trouble against the league's best team, it's worth noting that progress in the NBA is rarely linear. There are often a lot of ups and downs involved, and Tatum may have to stumble again before he can really take off.
“It's all going to work out,” he said.
