Jayson Tatum steps out into spotlight again, but how he's recovering remains a mystery

PROVIDENCE -- Providence Mayor Brett Smiley isn’t used to being upstaged at community events. Normally, the groundbreaking of a new early childhood education center in Providence’s Manton Heights neighborhood is his domain, but as he started his remarks in front of a larger-than-normal crowd for an event like this, a small black bus pulled around the corner. 

Everyone there knew who was inside. 

No one can tell you what the mayor was saying at that point. Maybe you can pick some of it out of all the smartphone videos tracking Jayson Tatum walking from the bus to his seat. Smiley could have been announcing the city of Providence’s plans to invade and annex the city of Cranston, but all anyone cared about at that moment was Tatum’s walk to his seat. 

It was, unquestionably, a walk. He was out of his boot, as he was in recent sightings like the one at Patriots training camp. It’s a ginger kind of walk, but then again, Tatum has always been a casual stride kind of guy. Nearly three full months since rupturing his Achilles against the Knicks, Tatum is out and about in his normal socks and shoes. 

“He's walking around a little more freely. That's obviously very encouraging to all of us at the Celtics,” team president Rich Gotham said after the event. “It's funny, when you go out to our practice facility, we’re like, ‘Oh, he's walking today. He doesn't have a boot on today.’ It's all little milestones in what's a pretty grueling process for him, but it's great to see him out at something like this and giving back to the community.”

This was Tatum’s first official public appearance at a team event. He also recently hosted his annual golf tournament in St. Louis, as a spectator this time around, but Tatum is feeling well enough to get out into the spotlight again. And Tatum back in the spotlight means Tatum’s right leg is under the microscope. 

As his tour of what the new center will be, Tatum took a detour to take a picture with young fans. That took him up a flight of stairs, which he took a couple at a time.

A COUPLE AT A TIME! That has to mean something, right? 

Whether it does or doesn’t, people will try to read into everything Tatum does at this point. Aside from remarks at the beginning of the event, Tatum didn’t talk to the media, so there was no clarity on where he was in his recovery. We still don’t know if he is on a normal pace or ahead of schedule. All we have is this walk. 

For now, that's enough. He’s spent more time at the Celtics facility than he usually does. When he hasn’t been in Boston, he’s been spotted at gyms working out wherever he is, ardently sticking to his rehab schedule. He’s getting better, but we still don’t know how much better yet.

He’ll be ready to play basketball again at some point. The next question is whether we’ll see him play this season. If everything comes together and Tatum is cleared to play with regular-season games left on the schedule, will he step onto the court? 

“That's a down the road question,” Gotham said. “What I know about JT is he's going to do everything he can to put us in a position to make a decision. He's going to work hard to get back as soon as he can, and we'll see how soon that is. But for right now, we're not really looking at timetables.”

There's no doubt Tatum will want to play as soon as he’s ready. The question is what will “ready” mean for him? When will he be able to turn that gimpy walk into NBA-speed starts, stops, and cuts? When will he go from leisurely stroll to feeling mentally ready to plant that foot again without worrying about another injury? 

Tatum’s body and brain will have to be in sync for him to return. Where along that path Tatum is remains a mystery. All we can do is watch Tatum on this walking tour and hope things are going well.