Tatum's Wrist Injury

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Just saw an article on Yardbarker about Tatum's wrist injury that's been an issue for a couple of seasons. Some highlights:

Jayson Tatum has been dealing with a wrist injury for two seasons. The All-NBA forward first discussed the injury last summer when he revealed he was playing with a 'non-displaced fracture' in his non-shooting wrist. Tatum played last season with the injury heavily taped.

According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Tatum has seen multiple specialists this summer.

"He went into the offseason thinking he might need surgery on his non-shooting wrist," Shelburne said. "Went to a bunch of specialists, and essentially decided, 'I'm not going to get the surgery, I don't need it.' Got a cortisone shot, told me it feels really good."

Tatum's shooting form has been patchy since suffering the injury. The veteran forward has avoided contact when going to the rim. Instead, Tatum has been leaning into his 'Euro Step' to create space on his interior shots while also minimizing the amount of dunks he makes. The Boston Celtics are expected to contend for a championship in the upcoming season and Tatum will need to be near his best if he wants to play a leading role.

Can he be near his best if his wrist is still bothering him? How long before we start hearing that this injury remains an issue? More importantly, will this season's playoffs be the third straight where this is an issue and contributes to Boston falling short of its goal? Mind you, I'm not saying they will fall short of their goal, just that, if they do fall short, will this be mentioned (again) as one of the key reasons they fell short?

[Full disclosure: In case you didn't know, or can't tell from this post, I'm pretty negative when it comes to Celtics injury issues. ]

[Who]

Worrying. Strange to choose a patchwork fix to a problem that has been bothering him for 2 years now. It doesn't seem to be a problem that is going away / will be fixed of it's own accord.

[gouki88]

Didn't Tatum just have his foul-drawing and interior scoring season? Not sure the line "the veteran forward has avoided contact when going to the rim" is true whatsoever.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Didn't Tatum just have his foul-drawing and interior scoring season? Not sure the line "the veteran forward has avoided contact when going to the rim" is true whatsoever.

That part may be inaccurate, but it's his overall health situation that is the real concern.

[gouki88]

Didn't Tatum just have his foul-drawing and interior scoring season? Not sure the line "the veteran forward has avoided contact when going to the rim" is true whatsoever.

That part may be inaccurate, but it's his overall health situation that is the real concern.

Based on what? Do you think if the health concerns were significant, or even moderate, that this is the path he would take?

[mobilija]

Oh good, the Brogdon is a malcontent story was getting boring. We need a new nebulous insubstantial issue to worry about.

[Celtics2021]

Oh good, the Brogdon is a malcontent story was getting boring. We need a new nebulous insubstantial issue to worry about.

We complain about the media making up stories, but as long as we have fans who will freak out at any vague concern, it will keep happening.

[Donoghus]

Didn't Tatum just have his foul-drawing and interior scoring season? Not sure the line "the veteran forward has avoided contact when going to the rim" is true whatsoever.

That part may be inaccurate, but it's his overall health situation that is the real concern.

Based on what? Do you think if the health concerns were significant, or even moderate, that this is the path he would take?

Bingo.

[Roy H.]

Didn't Tatum just have his foul-drawing and interior scoring season? Not sure the line "the veteran forward has avoided contact when going to the rim" is true whatsoever.

That part may be inaccurate, but it's his overall health situation that is the real concern.

Based on what? Do you think if the health concerns were significant, or even moderate, that this is the path he would take?

Bingo.

Yeah, I assume he weighed risks versus rewards with very good surgeons.

[SparzWizard]

That's like putting a bandaid instead of getting a full repair.

He should consider surgery if is been bothering him for two plus years. Don't want this to affect the team and fall short of its goal.

[Donoghus]

That's like putting a bandaid instead of getting a full repair.

He should consider surgery if is been bothering him for two plus years. Don't want this to affect the team and fall short of its goal.

I'm guessing he's going to listen to medical professionals and not some poster on a Celtics blog.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I’m not trying to be a malcontent or create drama; this is a legit health concern that’s been bothering Tatum for two years. I’m not going to claim to know more than trained medical professionals, but Celtics fans have been through this rodeo before — something is deemed not a big deal, but then it becomes a big deal. If this ends up being a thing at any point this season, I’ll just have to shake my head at a season lost due to an injury that could’ve/should’ve been taken care of sooner.

[Roy H.]

I’m not trying to be a malcontent or create drama; this is a legit health concern that’s been bothering Tatum for two years. I’m not going to claim to know more than trained medical professionals, but Celtics fans have been through this rodeo before — something is deemed not a big deal, but then it becomes a big deal. If this ends up being a thing at any point this season, I’ll just have to shake my head at a season lost due to an injury that could’ve/should’ve been taken care of sooner.

At the same time, what if there's a "routine surgery" and Tatum ends up like Lonzo ball?

Without being in the room, we have no idea the risks and benefits.  I've got to think that Tatum is getting sound medical advice.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I’m not trying to be a malcontent or create drama; this is a legit health concern that’s been bothering Tatum for two years. I’m not going to claim to know more than trained medical professionals, but Celtics fans have been through this rodeo before — something is deemed not a big deal, but then it becomes a big deal. If this ends up being a thing at any point this season, I’ll just have to shake my head at a season lost due to an injury that could’ve/should’ve been taken care of sooner.

At the same time, what if there's a "routine surgery" and Tatum ends up like Lonzo ball?

Without being in the room, we have no idea the risks and benefits.  I've got to think that Tatum is getting sound medical advice.

Point taken, but given the last 15 years of Boston Celtics injuries, I hope people will pardon me for being skeptical when we're told that everything is alright.

Probably doesn't matter, though—if Tatum's wrist doesn't derail the season, probably some other injury will, whether it's to him, Brown, or Zinger. That's just the way it goes with the Celtics.

[ozgod]

That's like putting a bandaid instead of getting a full repair.

He should consider surgery if is been bothering him for two plus years. Don't want this to affect the team and fall short of its goal.

Presumably if the specialists he saw said he didn't need surgery, he decided to avoid it. It's hard to pass judgment on his decision without knowing the nature of the injury. Surgery's not exactly something athletes are running to try and do unless they can't help it.

In any case, we don't know the nature of the injury, but we can all pile on after the fact when he aggravates it and misses time as a result