Jayson Tatum injury: NBA community erupts with prayers after devastated Celtics superstar brought to tears
The NBA community shared well wishes for Jayson Tatum after he was injured late in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks.
Tatum hit the deck late in the game and grabbed his lower leg immediately. The Celtics star had to be helped off the court as he could not put any weight on his left leg. A video of him being pushed back to the locker room in a wheelchair showed him in tears.
LA Lakers star LeBron James expressed his sympathy with several emojis on X. He referred to the Celtics star as "Big Deuce," the nickname of Tatum's son, Deuce.
"🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Big Deuce," James tweeted.
Tatum's former teammate Grant Williams expressed concern for the six-time All-Star. Another former Celtic, Isaiah Thomas, as well as New Orleans Pelicans star Dejounte Murray tweeted their concern.
"Prayers for 0! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 Too many have gone down this year," Williams said.
"🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Tatum," Thomas wrote.
"JT 🙏🏼🖤 @jaytatum0," Murray tweeted.
Several pundits, including ESPN's Kendrick Perkins, veteran sports analyst Skip Bayless and former professional player Jay Williams, also sent prayers to Tatum
"🙏🏾 for Tatum," Perkins posted.
"Jayson Tatum had played one of his best playoff games ever - 42 points. And out of nowhere THAT happened. So unfair. God bless him in his recovery," Bayless tweeted.
"I just pray it’s not an Achilles injury for Tatum. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾," Williams said.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes led an outpouring of support from the NFL community.
"Prayers up man….. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼," Mahomes wrote.
Knicks fan Ben Stiller also sent well wishes to Tatum.
"Sending all good thoughts and positive vibes to the great @jaytatum0," Stiller tweeted.
Jayson Tatum finished the game with 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. In 40 minutes, he shot 16-for-28, including 7-for-16 from the 3-point line.
"Tough to watch" - Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla shares concern for Jayson Tatum's injury
Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla provided an update on Jayson Tatum's non-contact injury in his media availability following the Celtics' 121-113 Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
Mazzulla said Tatum's injury is in the lower body, and the extent of the setback will be known following an MRI on Tuesday.
"He’s the type of guy that gets right up," Mazzulla said. "So, he didn’t and we’ll know tomorrow exactly what it is. But, it’s tough to watch a guy like him get carried off like that."
Boston's title defense faces a major setback. Aside from Jayson Tatum's devastating injury, the Celtics are down 3-1 in the series and will face elimination in Game 5 on Wednesday at TD Garden in Boston.