Jayson Tatum may need wrist surgery this offseason

Jayson Tatum may require some offseason surgery on his left wrist, according to a recent interview with the Celtics All-Star.

The 24-year-old forward spoke with the media following the team's shootaround ahead of Monday night's matchup against the Orlando Magic about the lingering injury -- a wrist fracture -- Tatum revealed recently was bother him during the NBA Finals this past June.

Still, despite sitting out in the Celtics comeback victory over the Toronto Raptors Saturday, Tatum doesn't anticipate to miss any significant time the rest of the regular season and beyond.

"It's kind of just talking with Nick [Sang] about how my body was feeling," Tatum said in post-practice presser. "Those 50 minutes the other night didn't necessarily help, and a couple of falls on my wrist, but I think the extra day off helped me out a lot."

Tatum played 48 minutes in the Celtics overtime win against the Golden State Warriors Thursday, before the team ruled him out with wrist soreness the next day when the team headed north of the border.

Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked about any dialogue between him and Tatum on if he wanted to come out of the game at any point Thursday night following his brief breather in the first quarter -- the only rest he got.

"Even though I asked the question I wasn't going to take him out," Mazzulla said during his pre-game comments in Toronto.

While Tatum may have re-aggravated the injury during the team's rally over the reigning champs, he wouldn't confirm nor deny when asked if surgery on his wrist would definitely be needed come the summer.

"Maybe. I don't want to say yes and I don't want to say no," Tatum responded. "It's something we'll look at once the season is over."

Nick Sang, who is one of the C's trainers, works a lot with Tatum, especially when it comes to taping his fingers in between and before each game. As the season has gone on, there's more frequent taping here and there during each contest -- being more noticeable when Tatum has an off night. 

"[We're] just finding different ways to make sure it's secure, but flexible where I can still do what I need to do," Tatum said.

Tatum and the Celtics will look to win their 10th straight when they tip-off against the Magic tonight on the road at 7:00 ET without Marcus Smart (ankle), Malcolm Brogdon (personal) and Robert Williams (knee) in the lineup.

 

Joel Pavón

Follow @Joe1_CSP



Photo used courtesy of CLNS Media