{"id":486512,"date":"2026-03-04T15:43:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=486512"},"modified":"2026-03-04T15:43:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:43:43","slug":"celtics-tatums-return-is-a-matter-of-when-not-if-per-macmahon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/celtics-tatums-return-is-a-matter-of-when-not-if-per-macmahon\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics: Tatum\u2019s return is \u201ca matter of when, not if,\u201d per MacMahon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around the league, the expectation is that Jayson Tatum<\/strong> will be back this season<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cit\u2019s a matter of when, not if,\u201d as Tim MacMahon<\/strong> put it in the latest chatter.<\/p>\n

The main signal is on-court activity: Tatum has been doing 5-on-5 work for weeks<\/strong>, a significant step that typically precedes clearance and reintegration.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a competitive edge to his timeline: he wants to be sure he doesn\u2019t return in a reduced role, echoed by the line circulating widely \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m not coming back to be a role player<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Tim MacMahon (@BannedMacMahon)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boston\u2019s star has been playing 5-on-5 for weeks as his comeback ramps up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":371685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-486512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nCeltics: Tatum\u2019s return is \u201ca matter of when, not if,\u201d per MacMahon - Sportando<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/celtics-tatums-return-is-a-matter-of-when-not-if-per-macmahon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celtics: Tatum\u2019s return is \u201ca matter of when, not if,\u201d per MacMahon - 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