New Jayson Tatum injury update is small but speaks volumes

The Boston Celtics picked up a win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night, but they did so without Jayson Tatum. It was the second time in the past week the Celtics beat the Pistons, and the second time they beat them with Tatum sitting on the bench.

Tatum has been dealing with right knee tendinopathy, which effectively just means pain or swelling in his knee. The Celtics superstar is known for his common refusal to sit out of games, but this is now the second time in a short span that he’s been sidelined, which could be a cause for concern.

Luckily, it sounds like Tatum is doing just fine.

Jayson Tatum injury doesn't seem concerning

After Celtics practice on Friday, head coach Joe Mazzulla gave a positive update on Tatum and Sam Hauser, who was also out on Thursday due to a right adductor strain.

“Yeah, there's a chance,” Mazzulla said when asked if the duo could play on Sunday. “They're doing better. We had a walkthrough today. They went through everything with the walkthrough. They're feeling better. So, we'll see, obviously, on Sunday, but they're both definitely progressing.”

On top of that, a one-word response was enough to keep Celtics faithful hopeful about the two’s status moving forward. When asked whether or not Tatum and Hauser would travel with the team to Washington on Sunday, he simply said, “Yes.”

Throughout the course of his career, Tatum hasn’t sat out a lot. And when he does, it’s usually the team telling him that he needs to take a day off. That could be what this is, but considering he’s been out twice recently, it seems more likely that he’s actually dealing with an injury.

Tatum’s knee could legitimately be bothering him, which is certainly something for the team to monitor. However, whenever Mazzulla talks about it, he doesn’t seem too worried about how Tatum is doing.

The fact that Tatum is going to travel with the team is a great sign, and Mazzulla revealing that he successfully went through a workout is just as crucial.

Should Tatum continue to miss games over the next couple of weeks, then the concern meter will begin to steadily rise. But for the time being, it seems as though he’s just trying to let some general pain in his knee pass by.

That’s something almost every athlete has dealt with in some form (or some different body part) or another. And if the team isn’t worried, fans shouldn’t be either.