According to All-Star Jayson Tatum, the nagging shoulder injury that bothered him throughout the 2022 NBA Finals is firmly behind him. The Celtics forward offered a full update at this years media day when asked about the issue. Tatum told CelticsWire back in August he believed his shoulder injury was a thing of the past.
“I feel great now.” Tatum said on Monday.
Tatum gave a little more context on the injury and how it affected him during the 2022 postseason and the weeks that followed.
Yeah, it affected me during the playoffs. But, you know, you play that long in the season and those physical matchups, everybody was dealing with something.
I’m a firm believer if I put my shoes and jersey on, and I go out there, then I’m playing. You know, there’s no excuses if you step out on the court. And if you injured then you shouldn’t play.
But you know, everybody, that late into the season is dealing with something. So I didn’t want [the injury] to be exaggerated. Something that I was kind of like using as a crutch.