WORCESTER, Mass. - A right leg injury for star Jayson Tatum has put a black cloud over the Celtic's 2025 playoff run. Tatum going down in the fourth quarter of Monday night's game with a right leg injury. Tatum needing a wheelchair to leave the court.

"It was definitely the first thing that popped into my head," said Dr. Phil Lahey when asked whether an achilles injury was the first thing that came to his mid after the play. "That kind of non-contact injury where he's lunging forward and goes right down like that and starts grabbing at the back of his ankle."

The road to recovery for Tatum could be long, after going down with an injury to his achilles tendon. Dr. Phil Lahey says injuries like this are not uncommon among basketball players and athletes in general.

"There's kind of two spikes: guys in their thirties and they're playing basketball and still really active," said Lahey, a partner at Worcester County Orthopedics. "Other sports like soccer, field sports too sometimes. And we see another little spike in guys in their late fifties, sixties as well."

Lahey has been treating orthopedic injuries for years, and says this isn't an average person getting injured, which could extend Tatum's recovery period. He says without a doubt, any form of an achilles injury would end Tatum's season. 

"It takes several months, three to four months just to get back, comfortable walking in a normal sneaker for regular guys," said Lahey. "For someone who needs to jump off that foot with incredible, explosive power and force, it's going to take a long time."

UMass Memorial Health's Dr. Ahbay Patel has similar thoughts, saying the rehabilitation period in total can take several months.

"It will be a splint or some sort of immobilization," Patel said. "Maybe a cast for a couple of weeks. And then it will be transitioned to a walking boot just to keep him off the foot. And then once they feel he has sufficient healing and his skin has healed nicely, then he's able to at least do some range of motion next."

Dr. Lahey says in his professional opinion, Celtics fans probably won't see Jayson Tatum again until some time in 2026.