There's an old adage in the NBA that everyone plays hurt during the playoffs. For the Celtics, it happened to their best player.
Jayson Tatum revealed that he was carrying an injury that no one but the team knew about.
Speaking with Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks, Tatum said he played for two months with a wrist fracture.
"It was small, but it was still like a non-displaced chip. So like, I chipped a bone but it didn't leave the surface," Tatum said.
"But it had shown that the bone had grew over it, so it healed. But I was still in pain because I kept getting hit or falling on it. So I guess I played with somewhat of a fracture for like two months."
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"I played with somewhat of a fracture for two months" 🤯
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 21, 2022
Jayson Tatum opens up about playing through an undisclosed injury during the playoffs in live interview with Taylor Rooks in B/R app pic.twitter.com/kt7xZCV36W
Tatum added that he aggravated the injury during the playoffs
"That was the most painful it's been since that day that I hurt it. I ended up getting a cortisone shot in my wrist that night and you could see it. I've lost color in my hand because it kills the fat cells and there's not a lot of fat in my hand, so I've lost color right there. After each game, I would have to wear a brace to shootaround and I would take it off before the cameras saw me."
Even though he battled through injuries, Tatum still averaged 25.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists during the NBA Playoffs. However, he was inconsistent during the NBA Finals where he averaged just 21.5 points and shot an ugly 36.7 percent from the floor while committing 23 turnovers.
I guess now we know why.