NBA stars, athletes, and celebrities react to Jayson Tatum’s injury

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LeBron James, Julian Edelman, and Patrick Mahomes were among those who reacted to Tatum’s injury.

Jayson Tatum left Monday’s loss to the Knicks with what appeared to be a severe injury. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The Boston Celtics’ 2024-25 season is officially on the ropes following a Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Monday.

But even with Boston now mired in a 3-1 series deficit, most of the focus on the Celtics is fixed on the health of Jayson Tatum — who exited Monday’s loss in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a serious leg/ankle injury.

Tatum fell to the court at Madison Square Garden in clear pain after pushing off the hardwood with his right foot in an attempt to beat out OG Anunoby to a loose ball.

The 27-year-old star forward immediately hit the floor with a non-contact injury, with Tatum not putting any weight on his right leg as he made his way down the tunnel.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had no official update on Tatum’s status after Boston’s 121-113 loss to New York, noting that Tatum is expected to undergo an MRI on Tuesday.

While no official word has been given on the nature of Tatum’s injury or the severity of it, the sight of Tatum grabbing the back of his ankle following a non-contact play has Celtics fans fearing what could be a long-term absence for the team’s top player.

As the Celtics and the rest of the sporting world await news on Tatum’s status, there has been no shortage of reactions from across the NBA, the NFL, and several other athletes and media pundits.

This post will be updated:

LeBron James

🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Big Deuce

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 13, 2025

Isaiah Thomas

🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Tatum

— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) May 13, 2025

Grant Williams

Prayers for 0! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Too many have gone down this year 🤕

— Grant Williams (@Grant2Will) May 13, 2025

Julian Edelman

Patrick Mahomes

Prayers up man….. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) May 13, 2025

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks PG

“Obviously, you want to go out there and compete, but when a player of his caliber goes down and he’s rolling in pain like that, you know something’s wrong. That’s why I just gave my thoughts and prayers. You never want to see something like that, ever.” https://t.co/qKvJ7Ae6x9

— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) May 13, 2025

Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks C/PF

Towns on Tatum: “I’ve been in a situation like that with my calf. If you saw, I just walked up, obviously respectful of his space. I just put my head down and prayed to my mother, prayed to God to put protection over him and comfort, whatever the injury may be. I hope it’s minor”

— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) May 13, 2025

Towns: “I’m praying for him. If you saw me on the court, I wanted to pray for him. It looked bad. Prayers to him and his family. You never want to see anybody in the NBA get hurt like that. I hope it’s something minor and not something major.”

— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) May 13, 2025

Josh Hart, New York Knicks G

Kendrick Perkins

🙏🏾 for Tatum

— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 13, 2025

Ben Stiller

Sending all good thoughts and positive vibes to the great @jaytatum0. 🙏🙏🙏

— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) May 13, 2025

Sean Grande & Cedric Maxwell

Skip Bayless, FS1

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.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 13, 2025

Bill Simmons

“I really wanted to cancel this,” Simmons said at the start of the live podcast following the Knicks’ win. “Tonight was not a good night for Celtics fans. Holy [expletive]. … “Worst case scenario, this is an Achilles. Best case scenario is torn ligaments in his ankle or something. Either way, done for the series and god only knows for how long.”

“The irony of it is that was one the best games of his career to this point,” Simmons later added, noting: “We’ll see what happens with Tatum, but this could go down as one of the darker Celtics days.”

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Dave Portnoy

Enes Kanter

SLAM Magazine

Conor Ryan

Sports Writer

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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