Jayson Tatum's Ruptured Achilles: What It Means and When He Will Return

by Zak Drapeau 5/20/25 FansOnlySportz

Jayson Tatum went down in Game 4 of the Eastern divisional series between the Celtics and the Knicks. At the time we all held our breath and hoped for the best but soon after it was reported that Tatum had undergone surgery for a ruptured achilles.

C/O to people.com

Tatum's surgery was performed by Dr. Martin O'Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. A renowned specialist in sports medicine, O'Malley had also performed the same operation on Kevin Durant 6 years earlier as well as many other athletes.

Tatum's surgery was a Percutaneous Achilles Tendon Repair. Percutaneous means that the surgery was performed through the skin using small incisions or punctures rather than a large, open surgical incision.

The surgery is often done percutaneously rather than openly on athletes. Some of the reasons for the former is:

• "minimizing the risk of re-rupture." - National Library of Medicine

• "to return to work was longer for patients who had open versus percutaneous repair." - National Institute of Health

Tatum's surgery was done percutaneously with the hopes of the best repair and with the shortest time needed to heal and rehab before he can get back on the court.

So what's the timetable for his return after this surgery?

Kevin Durant

As mentioned before, Kevin Durant had the same surgery by the same doctor in 2019. Durant's injury would even come in the playoffs as well on June 12, 2019. Durant was a bit older at 30 when his injury occurred and albeit 6 years ago when medical research and practice wasn't as advanced as it is today.

Durant's time spent away from the court? 18 months.

He would injure his right achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals that year and Durant would return 2 months into the 2020-21 season in December. Durant would famously come back and not miss a beat with little to no differences in minutes played or performance.

Klay Thompson

Klay Thompson would also rupture his achilles back in November of 2020 (while in the middle of rehabbing a previously Torn ACL). Thompson would have his surgery done by Dr. Richard Ferkel at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute. Thompson was also 30 years old at the time.

Thompson's time spent away from the court? A little over 13 months.

Thompson would undergo a different surgery, opting for an open surgery rather than percutaneous. Open surgery involves a larger incision to directly access the tendon. Studies are still researching whether this method of surgery could make for a faster return although no evidence has been found.

Speed Bridge Technique

In 2023, Aaron Rodgers ruptured his achilles on Week 1 of Monday Night Football. He would go on to have it surgically repaired 2 days later by Dr. Neal ElAttache at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles, (the same Doctor who repaired Kobe Bryant's Achilles in 2013.) Aaron Rodgers was 39 at the time of his surgery.

Rodgers was back on the football field practicing only 77 days after his surgery.

Other football players such as Cam Akers returned in similar time and were medically cleared to play only 5-6 months after their injury. So how did this happen?

A new procedure in Achilles Tendon Repair known as the "SpeedBridge Procedure". The procedure was developed by James McWilliam back in 2014 but has become more prominent over the last few years due to it's faster recovery time and ability to make the tendon load-bearing in similar time.

Tatum's surgeon Dr. Martin O'Malley, is known for his use of the SpeedBridge procedure although it is not yet known if Tatum's surgery used this method. Once more, when talking about Tatum's injury, Dr. Erek Latzka from Boston Sports and Biologics told CLNS Media in an interview 6 days ago, "-but when we think about NBA players, there haven't been any that I can think of that have had the SpeedBridge yet." -https://www.clnsmedia.com/doctors-answer-questions-about-jayson-tatums-achilles-surgery/

Looking to the Future

Jayson Tatum will be prioritizing elevation for his ankle and will likely not be walking for several weeks. In another month or two his rehabilitation will start. We don't yet know if Tatum's injury was done with the SpeedBridge technique but whether it did or not could be the difference of a recovery period anywhere from 6 to 18 months.

Tatum's father has said he believes Jayson will be out 8-9 months while other media has reported he's likely out for the entirety of the 2025-26 season.

Get well soon JT.

Check out fansonlysportz.com for more sports media content posted daily.

Make sure to stay tuned as we continue coverage of the 2025 NBA Playoffs

-Z.D.