Jayson Tatum has made an extraordinary return to the Boston Celtics from a torn achilles in the final part of the regular season, and in doing so the All-Star forward has sent a perfect message to wounded Golden State Warriors wing Moses Moody as he begins a long recovery process.
Sure, Moody's torn patellar tendon and recently completed surgery is a totally different injury, but there remains strong hope to be taken from a similarly young player suffering an equally devastating leg injury.
Jayson Tatum return offers strong hope to Moses Moody
While it's disappointing for a 36-year-old Jimmy Butler to go down with a near 12-month knee injury, it arguably evokes even greater sadness when a player yet to hit their prime suffers the same sort of fate.
However, this happening to Moody so early into his career -- his fifth season -- should offer some hope of returning at the very least to the player he was prior to the injury this season, and hopefully to being an even better piece for the Warriors in the long-term.
Tatum has already displayed just that. There's been some inefficient shooting performances upon his return, but the fact he's looked so much like the Tatum we knew pre-injury is a testament to he and his work ethic, along with modern medicine and science which means such injuries are no longer death sentences for NBA careers.
The 28-year-old was back well under 12 months after tearing his achilles in the second-round of last year's playoffs, before finishing this regular season averaging 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals in his 16 games.
Moses Moody faces potential season-long absence
One of the great motivations for Tatum was the fact that without him, the Celtics still put themselves in a strong position as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Had Boston had the gap year many expected, there'd be much more doubt on whether Tatum would have pushed for a late-season return.
Moody could find himself in a similar position next season. Will the Warriors be good enough to warrant him coming back, or will they be out of the race to the point where it's not worth Moody coming back?
Who knows when we'll see the former lottery pick again, but you know Moody will attack his rehab process as professionally as possible, which, as Tatum has proven, gives him a great chance of returning successfully.
Add us as a preferred source on Google