Celtics Star Jayson Tatum Reveals How 2025 Injury Change Him, Commemorates It Through His New Shoes

The 2025-27 season might be the worst in Jayson Tatum 's career. He was not able to play much, and his team suffered one of the most painful playoff losses for any player or team — blowing a 3-1 lead in a seven-game series.

Much of the blame is on the Boston Celtics forward's injury in the second round of the 2025 playoffs.

The Celtics faced off against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but their fate changed drastically when Tatum got injured in Game 4. It was a career performance for the six-time All-Star. He already had 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals, and two blocks under his name.

Unfortunately, he suffered an ACL injury in the final minute. It was eventually ruled a season-ending injury. The Celtics were eliminated in six games.

The 2017 No. 3 pick eventually returned in March, and the Celtics were among the best teams at that time, thanks in large part to Jaylen Brown , who was having an MVP-caliber season.

Tatum has been vocal about how traumatized he felt by that experience. He once discussed how he felt scared about returning to Madison Square Garden, where he suffered the injury.

"Nervousness, anxiousness, all the things you'd probably expect from the last time I played here. But it's a game," he said back in March.

Jayson Tatum still remembers the feeling

Six months into his successful return from the injury, Tatum admits that the event still haunts him. He confessed that he feels different because of the injury.

He will forever remember that painful moment, as he now commemorates it with his new shoe line. He released the Jordan Tatum 5, which he said was designed with his past injury in mind .

"On every Tatum 5, on the right side, there are five lines across the heel just to acknowledge the scar on my right heel," he during an event to launch the shoes (via Complex).

"What I've had to learn and also accept from that experience is, anytime you go through something traumatic, you're not the same you. You just can't be the same person anymore. And that's not saying that you're any worse, you're just different…So, aligning that with the Tatum 5, it looks different than every other shoe (I've had)."

Tatum will now head to the next season healthier and with bigger responsibilities as the team's lone star, following the shocking trade of Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers .