Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum REVEALS Knee Injury Details and Future Outlook

Summary

Locked On Celtics – Jayson Tatum Reveals Knee Injury Details & Future Outlook

Host: John Karalis
Date: May 4, 2026
Episode Focus: Jayson Tatum’s knee injury details, impact on season and playoff exit, and forward-looking analysis for the Celtics.

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Episode Overview

John Karalis opens the episode diving deep into Jayson Tatum’s much-anticipated exit interview, where Tatum speaks in detail about his knee injury and its timing. The episode then transitions into analysis of the Celtics' first-round playoff loss, frustration with the outcome, silver linings, and what the future holds for both Jayson Tatum and the team.

Karalis expertly mixes hard analysis, personal insight, and fan empathy, balancing disappointment over the abrupt playoff exit with optimism about the progress made—especially considering Tatum’s return from injury. Major points include a clinical breakdown of Tatum’s situation, Celtics rotation questions, coaching critiques, and the evolution of team expectations.

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1. Jayson Tatum’s Knee Injury – Explanation & Takeaways

[01:11–10:30]

Injury Details & Tatum’s Own Words

• Nature of Injury:

  • Tatum describes “knee tightness” in the back of his left knee, not structural damage (no torn ACL, etc.), but something that felt “inevitable” given his return after such a long layoff.
  • “It was just an unfortunate, just unfortunate timing, but I guess a little bit to be expected. I was away for ten 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. It was just kind of tough because rehab was just going so well the entire time. I guess it was inevitable at some point that I was going to have to deal with something. And it just came at the worst possible time.” — Jayson Tatum (quoted by Karalis, [03:05])

• Condition at Exit Interview:

  • No evidence of limping or crutches as Tatum walked in.
  • Injury was day-to-day. Tatum claims he would have played in the second round if Celtics advanced, reiterating he would have played Game 1 if needed.

• Rehab Realities:

  • Tatum revealed: “One of my legs is bigger than the other right now. My left calf is bigger than my right calf.”
  • Karalis explains this imbalance is common post long-term injury, leading to the stronger leg overcompensating and triggering tightness.

• Status During Playoffs:

  • Tatum says he played at 80–85% of his full capabilities.
  • “Finally we get a percentage,” says Karalis ([05:00]). “He was never going to say that ahead of time, but finally, now that it’s over, you can say, yeah, it was about 80 or 85%.”

• Hindsight & Team Decisions:

  • Karalis reflects on whether Tatum was ramped up too quickly and questions if his minutes should have been managed more conservatively (playing 30–36 mins instead of 36–40).
  • “Would it have been better to play him some shorter stints and maybe lean a little bit more into that Jalen Brown identity that the team had been succeeding with all season?” ([07:00])

Silver Linings

• Tatum’s return went about as well as possible, with the injury being the only significant setback.

• “Tatum’s comeback, Tatum’s return, it went as, as honestly perfectly as you could expect. Yes, he had that knee tightness at the end and that was unfortunate. That was the only kind of hiccup in the whole thing.” — John Karalis ([08:05])

• Karalis points out that now Tatum can take time off, rehab fully, and come back “as Jayson Tatum again in 26–27.”

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2. The Playoff Loss & “Gap Year” Blues

[10:30–24:00]

Playoff Exit – Disappointment & Anger

• Karalis expresses lingering frustration about the first-round series, arguing the Celtics “should have won that series” ([10:45]).
• Calls this season a “gap year,” and frames the early playoff exit as a worthwhile sacrifice for Tatum’s full recovery and reestablishing himself for future runs.

The Joel Embiid Factor

• Direct criticism of the narrative that Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid single-handedly changed the series:
  • “The Celtics allowed him to change the series … they treated him like he was still Dikembe Mutombo, like he was in his prime” ([19:40]).
• Expresses particular frustration with how the Celtics failed to adapt tactics:
  • “If I’m gonna blame Joe Mazzulla for something, it just felt like the Celtics weren’t prepared, which is hard for me to say because Joe Mazzulla is the most prepared person around. But, man, it felt like they weren’t prepared for Joel Embiid to come back into this series. And that’s not cool.” ([20:10])

Reflections on Expectation Management

• A season that began with low expectations changed when the team played so well, which led to genuine title hopes—only for those to come crashing down, making the loss sting even more.
• “They changed the conversation. … They created this scenario of, okay, you better win this series because now we all expect you to win” ([15:05]).

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3. The Year in Perspective: Growth, Lessons & Looking Forward

[24:00–37:30]

Team-Wide Progress

• Karalis highlights how the experience for Tatum and the supporting cast turns this “gap year” into a valuable setup year for real contention in 2026–2027.
• Praises the environment Brad Stevens created for player growth, singling out:
  • Namish Keda: “He through his play created the expectation against which now I judge him and say, man, … the foul trouble kind of bug that occasionally bit him showed up at the worst time and he could just never stay out of foul trouble.” ([17:30])
  • Baylor Shireman, Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez: All called out for having clear development needs identified thanks to extended minutes and playoff experience.

Notable Quote

“The minutes that Baylor Shireman got are important. And now he gets to go into a summer and talk about … all these different things that I need to work on. … He now has all of this information. … That makes him a better player next year.” — John Karalis ([27:45])

• Emphasizes that these experiences will help role players and the team as a whole be far better equipped when the core is whole for a real run next year.

Emotional Ride – “Gap Year, Dressed Up”

• Karalis draws a memorable analogy:
  • “It’s like you buy a used car … you clean it up, … you just kind of made a little upholstery … made it look completely different. Like, wow. This was a really nice … But in the end … it broke down on you. But for a while, man, everybody was looking at that car and the way it got dressed up, like, man, that’s nice. … It took you to a place that was fun. It got your hopes up, which is fun.” ([37:00])

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4. Final Takeaways & Setting Next Year’s Expectations

[37:30–41:00]

Summary & Forward Look

• Karalis says this team “packaged the gap year into something special,” and urges fans to appreciate both the journey and the emotional investment—even if the ending was bittersweet.
• Next year’s expectation is set: “The window is open and the Celtics should be contenders. Legit contenders. No gap year, no nothing. Assuming that Tatum comes back as himself next season, that’s the contender season because of the things they went through this year.” ([40:40])

Acknowledging the Fans

• Karalis acknowledges the “everydayers” and die-hards who stuck with the team and podcast all year:

  • “If you’re with me, if you’re going to be with me now, I mean, I appreciate you. This is going to be where real rational Celtics talk happens.” ([39:55])

• He promises offseason episodes with deeper player-by-player reviews and brings on guests for further analysis.

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Key Timestamps

• 01:11–10:30 – Tatum’s exit interview and detailed knee injury explanation
• 10:30–15:00 – Playoff series loss overview & gap year context
• 15:00–21:30 – Critique of series management, Embiid, and coaching decisions
• 24:00–37:30 – Player development, team growth, offseason trajectories
• 37:30–41:00 – Nostalgic analogy about the “gap year,” resetting for contention in 2026–27

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Notable Quotes

• “It was just kind of tough because rehab was just going so well the entire time. I guess it was inevitable at some point that I was going to have to deal with something.” – Jayson Tatum, via John Karalis ([03:05])
• “One of my legs is bigger than the other right now. My left calf is bigger than my right calf.” – Jayson Tatum ([04:10])
• “Tatum’s comeback, Tatum’s return, it went as, as honestly perfectly as you could expect.” – John Karalis ([08:00])
• “They treated Embiid like he was still Dikembe Mutombo.” – John Karalis ([19:40])
• “It’s like you buy a used car … you dressed it up. It got your hopes up, which is fun. … It took you to a place that was fun.” – John Karalis ([37:00])
• “Assuming that Tatum comes back as himself next season, that’s the contender season because of the things they went through this year.” – John Karalis ([40:40])

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Conclusion

This episode provides essential insight for anyone looking to understand not only the specifics of Jayson Tatum’s injury, but also how it fits into the Celtics’ broader trajectory. John Karalis expertly weaves injury analysis, playoff autopsy, and hope for the future in a candid but optimistic tone, making this episode a must-listen (or must-read summary) for devoted Celtics followers and NBA fans alike.

Transcript

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[John Corrales]

Now on the Lockdown Celtics podcast, Jason Tatum explains his knee problem and why it was probably inevitable. On self of the winners. Peace. Hey, welcome back to the show. I am John Corrales. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Go ahead and make that first deposit. Bet your first $5 as a new customer and get $150 in bonus bets. If your first bet wins, hit the FanDuel.com to get started later on second and third segments. It's going to be still angry about the series in segment two. Segment three is going to be kind of like the joy this kind of it's going to be two sides is going to be very angry and then very happy. In the second and third segments. There's a lot to unpack about how this season ended, where they're gonna go. This whole week's gonna be all of that stuff. We gotta start with Jason Tatum who at his exit interview on Sunday afternoon, by the time he talked, explained his knee issue and basically knee stiffness that was in the back of his left knee that he said first of all he said that he if the Celtics had advanced he, he expected to play. Although he did say that about game one. But he said 100 I was going to play. But. But the quote from him about the knee tightness said it was just an unfortunate, just unfortunate timing, but I guess a little bit to be expected. I was away for ten 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. It was just kind of tough because rehab was just going so well the entire time. I guess it was inevitable at some point that I was going to have to deal with something. And it just came at the worst possible time. So there's a lot rolled into this. So number one, no structural damage. It's not like he had a torn acl. It's not like they were calling it knee tightness. And it was something else. It literally was knee tightness. It was really a day to day thing, apparently. I mean, obviously there is the possibility that they could be lying to us, but the. He was walking fine. He seemed to be okay. There wasn't any sort of like crutches or anything like that when he walked in to the Aurbac Center. So day to day thing, he would have played sometime in the second round series if, if he had advanced. But the inevitable element of this, it really. I do understand this because one of the most enlightening things he said, we finally got a little bit of specifics here where he said one of my legs is bigger than the other right now. And it's very telling that even now, and it's hard to tell, I'm sure, but he. He said my left calf is bigger than my right calf. And that says a lot about where he is still in the rehab. He said that he was playing at about 80 to 85%. Finally we get a percentage to put on where Jason Tatum was in this whole thing. He was never going to say that ahead of time, but finally, now that it's over, you can say, yeah, it was about 80 or 85%. And when you're at 80 or 85% and you're dealing with a lower leg injury and one leg is not as strong as the other, the stronger leg overcompensates. And yeah, so that means there's going to be some tightness, potentially some soreness. There is always the potential for that coming back. I. I will question the speed at which he came back, but that's considering how everything went and how well everything went. I. My lingering doubts are a function of the Celtics. I mean, the function of the things that I know to have been true about injuries like this. And because this was so unique, I can't help but have that. Are you, are you sure? Are you sure you did this the right way? Are you sure you're sure he's right, that maybe something like this was inevitable? They went 11 months. It's, it hasn't even been a year. He's still two weeks away from it being a year, a week and a half away. Everything went so well that to not have a hiccup, as he put it, that was surprising. So the timing was unfortunate. And you wonder, did they, did they push too hard, too fast? Did they ramp up too much? Would it have been better to not play 36 to 40 minutes? Would it have been better to play 30 to 36 minutes? Right. Just a five to six minute difference. Would it have been better to play him some shorter stints and maybe lean a little bit more into that Jalen Brown identity that the team had been succeeding with all season long? And to make Jason just not a, I don't want to say a supporting player, but to just make Jason Just a 10 less of what he was, would that have allowed him to ultimately play a little bit more and play in game seven? That's, I mean it's, it's definitely Monday morning quarterbacking and it may not have mattered right? Over compensation is over compensation and that, that swelling or tightness might have just been there no matter what. But when your best player misses a Game seven, you have to start going back and going like, did you do, did you do all that other stuff? Right? And by the way, if any of the Jalen Brown stands are sitting there saying, how can. I can't believe you called Jason Tatum your best player. Jaylen Brown called him our best player after Game seven. So that's Jalen Brown's words, not mine. But the good news. And, and Tatum mentioned this, if you're looking at a silver lining here, Tatum's comeback, Tatum's return, it went as, as honestly perfectly as it, as it, as you could expect. Yes, he had that knee tightness at the end and that was unfortunate. That was the only kind of hiccup in the whole thing. And the fact that they only got that one is a bit of a miracle. I'm surprised that he played as much as he did. I'm surprised that they were able to ramp him up as, as quickly as they did. I'm, I'm surprised by a lot of things. Now after almost a year of hard work, I think Tatum gets to take a month off and go to the beach and relax and come back at in, in June and start ramping back up Again and start a slow progression of just getting back to who you were. And this is going to be part of the point that I make later. But it's kind of funny how things ended up working out the way I had talked about with Jayson Tatum. When I said I wanted him to come back in March. I wanted him to get through the initial return and the mental part of it and understand who he is, what he is, what does he have to do. This. This went exactly like I had hoped and shout out. Let me see who tweeted this out on Twitter because it was. It was very. I appreciate that that somebody took the time to go back and it was at Big Lynch. B I G G Lynch who went back and. And tweeted my. My thing out from this was Gez back in man, Way, way back. Anyway, how. However long I. I said it,

[Wes Goldberg]

where

[John Corrales]

I said this the. The 26, 27 preseason starts when Tatum comes back. And I wanted Tatum back this season so we can get all this stuff out of the way so you can go into the summer and to now you understand who you are, what you need to do, and you can start next season at the absolute best possible place. And lo and behold, this is it worked out. That worked out perfectly. I never really, during the course of the season, never really thought that we would even be in a position to be upset about a playoff series. I'm glad that we were. But by the end of this movie, we got to the ending that we thought it was just a wild ride to get to this place. And for Tatum, he talked about was proving to yourself that you could go back and be an elite player, proving that the work was worth it, understanding that you could play at this high level, being 80 to 85%, getting that confidence back. Like all of these little check marks that Tatum has gotten out of the way now, now you start next season fresh and you get actual Jayson Tatum back. You don't have to go through these check marks. You don't have to go through this 80 to 85%. You don't have to go through. Jayson Tatum is missing a game around Thanksgiving because his knee got tight and he's overcompensating because he didn't get these minutes, these reps now. And we can say, oh, but it costs. Maybe it cost the Celtics a run is very obvious as we transition into still mad about this series. It's very obvious the Celtics weren't going to get the types of supporting performances that they needed to make the deep playoff run that we thought was possible. So I will wrap this segment up by saying I'm happy that Jason Tatum came back. I thought even if the sacrifice was a first round loss in what ultimately was, I hate to say the words gap year. Ultimately, ultimately that's what this ended up being. If that's the sacrifice, that this season was a great regular season and hey, first round loss, which look more realistically, it should have been a second round loss. But if that's the sacrifice, then that, that was a good sacrifice to make because Jason Tatum is going to come back in day one ready to play NBA basketball and be Jason Tatum again in 26, 27. All right, let's get to this series because despite all the stuff that I just said and the stuff I'm gonna say in the third segment, they should have won that series. I still am kind of ticked off about it. Let's get to that when I come back. Today's show is brought to you by BetterHelp. You know, I, I, I believe in the benefits of therapy and May is mental Health Awareness Month. It's an important reminder that whatever kind of stress you're carrying right now, whether it begins with the simple I can't believe the Celtics loss or it's compounded by some very real life life problems that especially with a lot of things that are going on nowadays, can be really stressful. It's very easy to kind of lose sight of yourself and feel like you need to figure things out. And therapy can be a place to get that support, gain perspective, and talk things through with someone who's there to listen and help. Better Help connects people with licensed therapists. It makes it easier to get matched with someone who fits your needs and your goals. There are a lot of difficulties when you talk about mental Mental Health Awareness month and you want to check in with yourself, you got to find the right person to do that. And BetterHelp is going to match you. Because they've helped millions of people connect with licensed therapists. The matching process is designed to help you find someone who works for you. And if that doesn't fit, this is the most important part. If that person doesn't fit, it's okay. Say this isn't working out for me. They will help you switch therapists at any time. So having someone with you, someone to listen to and support you can make a real difference. Don't be on this journey alone. Trust me. Therapy helps. Find support and have someone in your corner. Sign up and get 10% [e-mail] Lockdown MBA that's BetterHelp H E L P.com LockedOnNBA Today's show is also brought to you by Five Hour Energy. Man, I needed that five hour energy shot today because it was a short turnaround. And hey, if you've got that sweet tooth, that fruity rainbow five Hour Energy Shot brings nostalgic flavor back in a whole new way with no sugar. Fruity Rainbow 5 Hour Energy Shots Treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor with a tasty caffeine quick Satisfy caffeine kick. Satisfy that sweet craving. Keep things simple and on the go. Very simple, man. You go, you grab a few of these fruity rainbow five Hour Energy shots, you throw them in your bag. When you're feeling that little drag in the middle of the afternoon, bang. Got one nice sweet treat. Give you that little tasty caffeine kick and you're good to go for the next five hours. Very convenient. And it's a go to when you need something sweet without going overboard. No sugar. Get candy Flavored Chaos with fruity rainbow five hour energy shots available online at Five Hour Energy. That's the number five hourenergy.com or on Amazon. Thank you for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. Make sure you're subscribed wherever you get your podcast. It's on every podcasting app. It's on YouTube. Please get there and get into the comments section. I really do appreciate you being with me and being in every dare joining me every Monday through Friday. I will drop bonus podcasts no longer when they play on the weekends. That has sadly gone away, but I will still do about a bonus pod from time to time, so make sure you're subscribed. Thank you for joining me. I'm John Corrales. If you're new to the show, I cover the Celtics for Sports Illustrated's Celtics on SI and I've been covering this team for 20 years doing this podcast for 10. This was one of the more wild rides because this was the ultimate frustration this series. And at the same time it was just a joy to watch these guys. I mean, I walked into that building for game seven smiling, kind of left with a smile on my face too. It was late, so maybe I was a little too tired to actually smile, but it was. It was such a crazy experience. These guys took us on a ride. I've said this multiple times, expectations are not set in stone. Came into the season with very low expectations. They, to their credit, changed the conversation. The Celtics were so good this season, they changed the conversation. And they're the ones who made this, put us in a position to be really disappointed by this. They created this expectation by playing great all season long. They created this scenario of, okay, you better win this series because now we all expect you to win the series. Maybe, maybe we all overreacted about how far they could go, but the questions about the makeup of this roster kind of showed themselves in this series and it is very disappointing, very disappointing to see those kind of questions pop up at this particular time. And I will do a whole off season kind of primer episode where we get into some of the deeper conversations about, like what, what's the conversation around the Mishkeda, who was great during the regular season and was great in spots in the playoffs, but it was also bad in spots in, in the playoffs. A lot of it had to do with foul trouble. And so what are you reacting to in the off season with Keda, the regular season, the playoffs? Where do you go with that? So there's a real discussion to be had there. But the fact that he even made it into discussion is a testament to where he was, where he is now, and the fact that there's still a legitimate reason to believe that he can be a starting center for you next season. But he, through his play created the expectation against which now I judge him and say, man, the, the. The tendency, the, the. The foul trouble kind of bug that occasionally bit him showed up at the worst time and he could just never stay out of foul trouble. Even in game seven where he, he played 30 some odd minutes, he could have played 40 minutes. He had five files in that. And it was, it was still, if, if he had played better, maybe the Celtics would still be playing. You can say that about Peyton. Sam, you say it about Baylor, you can say about everybody. Jason two, you can say it about Jalen for sure. So these guys set an expectation throughout their. The course of the season. And now you look at that series and go, man, that first of all absolutely should have won. The Celtics should still be playing basketball. And the one thing I just want to get off my chest here is this, this notion that's being put out there. I, I tuned into Jalen Brown's Twitch stream for a little bit and he mentioned it there in the 10 minutes that I was listening where he talked about like, yeah, yeah, well, Joel Embiid came back and now that was tough. And you heard guys talk about this after the games and I'm sorry, I just refuse to, I refuse to just sit there and Let history be rewritten where we're going to just sit there and be like, we cannot accept a history that's going to say, wow, Joel Embiid came back from an appendectomy and dominated the Celtics, and he changed the series. No, no, no, no. The Celtics allowed him to change the series. And if I have one bit of anger, it's that bit that the Celtics. You can't just sit there and tell me, man, there's. We bead came back and there was nothing we can do about him. You don't have the centers to guard him straight up like Al Horford did. That's fine. But you have the types of players that can run him ragged. Joel is a big, slow player coming off of a surgery that he was not in any real playoff shape, and he was able to shoot these little soft jumpers, and the Celtics avoided him. Okay, he got a block like Jalen went up in Game 7 to try and dunk on him, and Embiid got up there and blocked it. Congratulations. So what? Keep going at him. He wasn't going to block all of them, but they treated him like he was still like to Kimi Mutumba, like he was in his prime. I'm my number one if I'm gonna blame Joe Missoula for something. It just felt like the Celtics weren't prepared, which is hard for me to say because Joe Missoula is the most prepared person around. But, man, it felt like they weren't prepared for Joel Embiid to come back into this series. And that's not cool like that to me. They should have. They should have been, oh, Joel Embiid is here, Rock. That's why I put out that. That show. That's why I put out that show. That said they had no chance. They let Embiid get comfortable. They let Embiid take those little soft fadeaways. They played into Philly's hands. They played slow. They. After that, that 13 point lead in the third quarter of game five, they just slowed down and played right into the Sixers hands. And it's again, a testament to them that we can sit here and have this feeling of like, man, blown opportunity. They really botched it. But I cannot sit here and accept a narrative that Joel Embiid came back and dominated and there was just nothing the Celtics could do about it now. The Celtics could have done plenty. They just didn't do the things that they needed to do. They started to do them in Game 7, and he got tired at the end of Game 7. And it worked. It worked to some degree. They almost came all the way back. That's how game five should have been. The Celtics should have been able to tire Joel Embiid out and close it out with Tatum there. And now if Tatum closes that out, if the Celtics close that out in Game 5, think about being able to sit Tatum, get some of that tightness out of his knee or whatever, and maybe he's, maybe he's not dealing with that. And you get to go up against the New York Knicks with a full squad. I still think they would have lost that series anyway. I, I just don't think they had enough. But losing to the Sixers just kind of bothers me. So be mad. Be mad about. Be mad about the Celtics losing that series. You should be mad. There are questions about coaching and the players in the. In all of that stuff. That absolutely is true. And it's confusing to some degree because they, they should have. They should have known. And it just looked like to be unprepared in that moment is. That's a tough one to swallow. But in the end, they are who. Who we thought they were. They are who we thought they were. And as angry as you can be about the Celtics in this series, you can also be happy about what they, what they gave you this season. We'll talk about that when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Get on that FanDuel app as the NBA playoffs drag on even without the Celtics, if you're looking to get closer to the action, FanDuel has a great offer to get you started. New customers can bet $5 and get 150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. So turn 5 bucks into 150 in bonus bets just for getting started so you can use FanDuel during the playoffs. Get everything you need right there. Stats, trends, matchups, all that stuff, which makes the whole experience feeling a lot more informed. You can look at player props or if you're just following your favorite stars, it adds another layer of excitement to every game. It's a really easy to navigate the app and it makes playoff basketball more engaging from start to finish. So when you sign up, it's going to ask you to set your limit, set your budget, please do so, whatever you can afford to lose in case you go cold like the Celtics did at the end of the fourth quarter, you just never know. And so set that limit, set that budget so you can gamble responsibly at FanDuel. FanDuel.com play your game Tatio Also brought to you by Rug Yet Playoffs are here. NHL playoffs as well. Every shift matters. Every minute matters. Everything's more intense. Pressure is at its highest. And just like the performance that matters on the court or on the ice. That's where Rougy yet comes in. It offers treatments to design that are designed to help you get ready and stay ready when it matters. Their top option, Rouge Yet Ready combines clinically proven ingredients in a simple mint that dissolves under your tongue. And it works fast, often in about 15 minutes, and it can last up to 36 hours. It's all about confidence and feeling like yourself again. Head to rougiet.com locked on NHL to get 15% off your ED treatment. That's rug yet r u g I e dash.com locked on NHL for 15 off rug yet performance medicine for men thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. Being an everydayer and joining me all these Monday through Fridays, you never miss an episode. So now join the Lockdown Every Day club to get ad free audio access to our members only Discord and more. All built for our most loyal fans. That's you. Check it out at lockdownceltics.super cast.com lockdown celtics.supercast so a lot of this touches on some of the stuff I was talking about yesterday, but it's this did end up getting us right back to where we thought they would be. Where this, this was a gap year with a side quest to 56 wins. It was, it was exactly where we thought they would end up. You could, you could fast forward through a bunch of stuff and first round exit in a game 7 loss is would not be surprising to anybody. But I, I think that seasons like this are so fun and enjoyable that they should be celebrating. I don't, I don't have a problem with, you know, Jalen especially calling it the most fun season he's had because we did learn a lot. This, this was a. I know that that Game 7 sting is still there and I'm sure a lot of the listeners who with me through this playoff run are no longer listening or at least have turned the podcast off for a few days. And so I hope everybody comes back and catches up on the podcast. I know how this is going to go. But look, this, this really was a successful season. If you go back to the original expectations, the original thought for what this season was, this was designed by Brad Stevens to figure out who accentuates Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown and the minutes that Baylor Shireman got are important. And now he gets to go into a summer and talk about. He gets to say, okay, I have all of these different things that I need to work on. I asked him about that. It is actually an exit interview. He said, continue continuing to work in the weight room, get stronger and quicker change of directions. My ability to create for others, read the game and be a secondary or third playmaker, coming off a string screen, pin downs, things like that. That's all stuff that he's going to work on. Working on floaters, slow steps, finding angles around the rim, finishing at the rim. He now has all of this information. He has a season full of successes and failures. Now he gets to go into a summer with all of that at his disposal and that makes him a better player next year. Same for Jordan Walsh, same for Hugo Gonzalez, especially the same for Namishkeda. Those guys are all going to go into the summer with stuff to work on, but knowing what they need to work on. And this is why when, when we do get to the full off season to Mishkada discussion, there's a legitimate, there's a little, a legitimate discussion to be had that hey, you don't do anything with Keda. He comes back next year and is your starting center and you see what has he taken with him into the summer, what has he worked on, how has he grown, what, what is he now as a center and then from there you decide what you want to do. Is he capable of being a playoff level starting center next season? This year he kind of wasn't and you can say fouls and whatever. Yeah, that, that's, that's like maybe some of it was out of his control and it was just the calls. But I do think some of it was in his control because he still had half of his performance, maybe more was still really tough. So anyway, his, his summer is going to be is, is full of stuff that he now knows that he needs to work on. This. This is all very, very important things that to have this information for next season is. You don't know how helpful that is. So we got away from the term gap gap year because all of the talk turned into oh my God, this is a 56 win team in the second seed and the east is so wide open the Celtics could make a run and they, they could have. It was there. They didn't. And so now you go back to like, well, I guess this really was a gap year. And now you go back to the gap year topics and say, okay, well Jalen had a great season, and I think Jalen also understood this is what it takes to be the number one guy. And I think he has a deeper appreciation for that, and he has a deeper appreciation for what Tatum brings, and I think that's going to make him a better player, a better teammate. And, you know, not to say that he wasn't a good teammate before, but I'm just saying it just makes him a better one. All of this stuff is important. Derrick White, this was important. He needed to go through this and learn a lot about himself and learn. Have this honest conversation about what do you need to be next year? Who do you need to be now as Derrick White, in his early 30s, moving forward, what. What tweaks do you need to make? Everything is information. So take these failures, take these losses, and understand, okay, what. What led us there. Make yourself better. And now when Tatum comes back next year and is his normal self now you have a bunch of guys who have. Have improved because of the time without Tatum. It just makes them all that much better with him. I think this was a really enjoyable year. It kind of was over in a blur, but it was a really fun year, and it was fun covering it. It was fun talking about it. I'm. I'm happy that they changed the expectations so drastically. I'm thrilled that this is where it went. I never expected them to challenge this year. Their loss was really, really disappointing. I never expected them to get to the finals. So all of this stuff, anything that they accomplished in the playoffs, to me, was kind of gravy. But because they set the expectations, you had to talk about it in a meaningful way and had. You had to say, this is possible. All this stuff can happen, and you change your expectations based on how they were playing. And now the expectations shifted greatly as that series went on. Some of it was. A lot of it was their own fault. You have to acknowledge that some of it was there. They were incapable, just incapable of doing certain things because of some of the limitations of the role players. And now you just say, hey, now you know what your limitations are. Go come back and be better. Now we need to see is it going to be very clear who works this summer and who doesn't, who has fixed some of these problems and who didn't. But I'm just. I'm. I'm glad that everything kind of worked in that. In that manner. I'm just kind of glad that they gave us, like, they gave us something to be happy about. The. When I say that, okay, yeah, it was still a gap year, but, like, they. They turned this. They, like, repackaged the gap year into something special. They turn like, okay, here's. Here's a gap year. But you know what? We're gonna dress it up. We're gonna make this. It's like you. You buy, like a used car from one of those little cheapo lots, you know, somewhere off the side of the road where it's like that.

[Wes Goldberg]

The.

[John Corrales]

The lot is barely bigger than your driveway. You know, this is all I can get. But you clean it up, you get a little paint job on it, you detail it, and, like, it's still. It's still not the best car in the world. But you know what? We dressed it up. We made it look good. We got that engine running great, and for a while, it was. It was a. It was one of the best cars on the road. In the end, it was still the car that you bought off that lot. And so it broke down at the end, but for a while, man, everybody was looking at that car and the way it got dressed up, like, man, that's nice. That was really nice. What do you have on there? Look at those. You get new tires on it. You got the, The. The. The way you, You. You just kind of made a little upholstery. You put a couple little things in there, made it look completely different. Like, wow. This was a really nice. Wow. Great. You kind of got fooled a little bit by it. In the end, it broke down on you, and you're like, ah, probably should have seen this coming, but you got eight months. You got eight months of a hell of a ride. It took you to a place that was fun. It got your hopes up, which is fun. It got you. Even though it got you upset at the end, think about how cool it is that you were so invested that you actually got upset. Like, that's kind of what sports is supposed to evoke emotions. So I think. I don't know, I think it was all. Was all good. It was all good. You ended up in a place that you probably should have seen coming. I probably should have seen it coming a little bit more. But we all gave into it. We all gave into this emotion, and it was. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. There's so much to talk about. There is so much. I'll bring Tom Westerholm back on this week, and we will continue to talk about our reflections of this season, and we're going to start spinning it forward. It's going to be time to Start looking at how they, what do they do now? What's next? We're going to start looking at some of the individual players who, who might stick around. How do they, how do they approach next season? All of that stuff, tons and tons and tons to unpack with this team. This is for the Die Hards. This is for the everydayers. If you're with me, if you're going to be with me now, I mean, I appreciate you. This is going to be where real rational Celtics talk happens. Still be mad at game seven. Still be mad at this series. Totally legit. Go through, go through your emotions, whatever that is.

[Wes Goldberg]

Cool.

[John Corrales]

But understand that there's a lot, there's a lot to talk about and we're going to keep it as rational as we can to try to figure this out because next season we're going to start setting the expectations. Now. I'm doing this on May 3rd. The expectation for next season on May 3rd is. The window is open and, and the Celtics should be contenders. Legit contenders. No gap year, no nothing. Assuming that Tatum comes back as himself next season, that's the contender season because of the things they went through this year. Thank you for listening. Thank you for subscribing. I do appreciate you being with me every Monday through Friday, joining me on the YouTube page. Get into the comment section there, share your thoughts with me and then share the podcast. Tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics podcast. Here on the Lockdown Podcast network is your team. Every day, Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. That's it. That's the ad. No bells and whistles? No, guys, I said no bells and whistles.

[Wes Goldberg]

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