Jayson Tatum explains why Celtics ruled him out for Game 7

BOSTON — In the first 15 minutes of Jayson Tatum's exit interview on Sunday afternoon, the Boston Celtics star said the word "unfortunate" three times. It was his only way of describing the circumstances that led to him sitting on Saturday night for a do-or-die Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden. Just hours before tipoff, Tatum was listed as out due to "left knee stiffness." The six-time All-Star obviously wasn't fully healthy, as he's still less than a year removed from rupturing his right Achilles, yet his performance in the first round made many forget that he wasn't 100 percent.

Jayson Tatum explained why he couldn’t in Game 7:

“The staff, the medical team, they just kind of assessed everything that was going on. And I was in the window of return-to-play protocol, and there were just certain rules and a plan that, ultimately, that we had to stick by.” pic.twitter.com/8IHiAApdwY

— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) May 3, 2026 "One of my legs is still smaller than the other one," Tatum pointed out to reporters at the Auerbach Center. Without Tatum active, the Celtics ended up falling 109-100 to the Sixers and squandered their first 3-1 series lead in franchise history. All the organizational cornerstone could do was watch from the bench as his teammates came up short, because the C's refused to risk him suffering another career-altering injury. "The staff, the medical team, and (trainer) Nick (Sang) — they just kind of assessed everything that was going on," Tatum said of what went into him being ruled out for Game 7. "I was in the window of return-to-play protocol, and there were just certain rules and a plan that, ultimately, we had to stick by. And it's tough, obviously, working as hard as I did, to come back and to be available, and for it to come to a Game 7 and not be able to be out there." In the second half of Game 6, Tatum visited the locker room and worked out on the stationary bike, which raised some red flags in terms of his status for Game 7. He downplayed the tightness postgame and said he expected to be good to go on Saturday. However, the discomfort returned. "I just experienced some tightness back there," Tatum explained. "It was just unfortunate timing. But, I guess a little bit to be expected, right? I was away for 10 and a half months and then I came back, and I'm playing every other day, and I was playing 36 to 40 minutes. So, it's not unusual that something would come up." Joe Mazzulla on Jayson Tatum’s injury;

“He came in today with knee discomfort.”