Ahead of Jayson Tatum’s March 6th Return, Former NBA Champion Reveals Why It’s a Bad Idea

The moment every NBA fan has waited for has come. Jayson Tatum will return to play for the Boston Celtics this season. Tatum will reportedly be available for the March 6 game against the Dallas Mavericks. This news comes as a joy for plenty of fans, but not everyone is on board with the decision. Former NBA champion Bruce Bowen is a bit wary of this new development quickly going sideways.

Before the season even began, Tatum made it clear that he wanted to return this year. Although the Celtics didn’t write the possibility off, the majority of the general public did. After all, the 2024 NBA champion tore his Achilles, which isn’t an easy injury to recover from. Most players take a minimum of a season to rehab before returning to play.

The Celtics are having an exceptional season even without their best player. Jaylen Brown has elevated his play to a true number one option, leading Boston to the second seed with a 41-21 record. The addition of Tatum is arguably the biggest midseason acquisition any team in the league could have dreamt of.

That said, as great as Tatum is, it’s premature to assume he will be at 100% on return. At the very least, it will take some time for him to just get his legs under him. But even if this is a 70% version of Tatum, the Celtics will take it with both hands.

However, it isn’t always as simple as plug and play. Many people believe the Celtics have developed a great sense of team chemistry in Tatum’s absence. Three-time NBA champion Bruce Bowen believes Tatum’s return could disrupt the flow, which the Celtics worked hard to develop.

“There’s going to be a role player that’s not going to get touches because Jayson is taking a bulk load of the shots,” Bowen said on The Right Time with Bomani Jones. “It’s nothing against Jayson Tatum. It’s just the disruption that happens during the course of a season, or let alone the chemistry of what you guys got going.”

Bowen isn’t just speaking from an outsider’s point-of-view. He went through a similar transition period while incorporating a star player recovering from an injury mid-season.

During his second tenure with the Miami Heat, Alonzo Mourning looked to return from a kidney transplant. In theory, it seemed like only a positive to have him back with the team. Bowen and the rest of the Heat learned the hard way why it wasn’t that straightforward.

“Anthony Mason was an All-Star for us and our team MVP. Zo was coming off a kidney transplant, and because of that, there were certain things that we just didn’t know. I say that to share this. We play a game, we’re incorporating Zo back in. Mason is unhappy. Not because he doesn’t like him, but because the flow of the game changed. Now, the ball is no longer in Mace’s hands,” Bowen revealed.

By no means is Bowen predicting that Jaylen Brown will suddenly become irate with his usage rate once Tatum takes the floor. However, likely, a role player isn’t happy with their role diminishing, especially when they deserve the minutes. The Celtics are already playing with no pressure; there’s nothing to lose, considering they were without Tatum for the entirety of the season.

It wouldn’t be a failure of a season if Tatum just took the extra time to fully recover. Regardless, the six-time All-Star is one of the biggest competitors in the league. The NBA is better when Tatum is on the floor, and it looks like it’ll happen quite soon.

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