Although Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum was seen back on the basketball court much sooner than expected, he is still not anticipated to play much or at all in the 2025-2026 NBA season due to a torn Achilles.
This means the Celtics will need to heavily rely on Jaylen Brown to carry them to the postseason after losing defensive standout Jrue Holiday and star big man Kristaps Porzingis this summer. All this to say, Boston isn't going to be the Eastern Conference powerhouse fans have seen in recent years.
ESPN analyst and New York Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith is rejoicing at this news but chose to do so in a way that upset people on social media.
"I'm looking forward to my Knicks, my New York Knicks, capitalizing off of the Achilles tear to Jayson Tatum," Smith said on First Take. "The Achilles tear to Damian Lillard that ultimately led to him departing from Milwaukee and going back to Portland, and the Achilles tear to Tyrese Haliburton in Indy. The New York Knicks are going to the NBA Finals."
It's important to note that there was a bit of misunderstanding because the social media clip did not quote the piece of the video where Smith said, "I wish them all well. Jayson Tatum was here last week nothing but love for the brotha."
Still, users on X were quite upset by the matter.
One user replied to the post, "Not sure if it’s just me but I feel like it’s crazy to be excited that your team is ‘going to the finals’ because other teams aren’t competitive due to key players being injured."
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Another commented, "That’s an insane thing to say about Tatum ngl."
It's clear Smith's intentions were not to disrespect Tatum or any of the other stars listed, but the consensus is he should have made this claim about the Knicks in a politer tone.
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