Celtics star Jayson Tatum filled with 'gratitude' in his return to court following Achilles surgery

BOSTON (AP) — There were times when Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum wasn't sure if he'd make it back to the game that was abruptly taken away from him last season.

It made every moment he experienced in his return as special as any he's had so far in his basketball career.

His homecoming at TD Garden on Friday night, a 120-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks marked his season debut almost 10 months after surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon.

“I had a real sense of gratitude," Tatum said. "Just being back on the floor and playing basketball again. It just kind of brought me back to everything I’ve been through the last 10 months, and the fact that I was able to even be out there today was a really big win for me.”

It also was a reminder — to everyone — that the player who helped bring Boston a 2024 NBA championship and has five All-NBA and eight All-Star selections, will need time before he's fully back to being himself.

Tatum had 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists in an at times rusty 27 minutes. He played in five- and six-minute spurts in his first game since suffering the injury in during Game 4 of Boston’s Eastern Conference semifinal loss to New York in May.

Tatum, who turned 28 this week, said his return to the court would be a home game. He made good on that promise.

He missed his first six shots, but also made five straight at one point.

“Nights and days I dreamed abut this moment," Tatum said. “The anticipation. The crowd. It’s been 42 1/2 weeks since I played an NBA game. Just trying to get caught up on the speed and everything.. I felt like maybe I was a step off or maybe too fast. But the game started to slow down once I started moving around a little bit.”

Tatum missed his first shot the night, misfiring a jumper off the back of the rim on Boston’s second trip down the floor.

He’d make his first contribution to the stat sheet on the Celtics' next possession — an assist on a alley-oop to big man Neemias Queta.

Tatum airballed his second field goal attempt of the game – a 26-footer from the top of the key – before heading to the bench for his first rest.

Late in the first quarter Tatum briefly left the court with trainer Nick Sang. But he returned to the bench in time to re-enter the lineup for the start of the second period.

Even with the uneven start, he continued to look for his teammates, adding another assist and actively screening to initiate the offense.

“He came on the other side of this a better person, and I know better player. That’s all you can ask for,” Celtics coach Mazzulla said.

Fans rose to their feet in anticipation after Tatum got open and had a clean look at a dunk. He got hung up on the rim, though, a mishap he chuckled about a few minutes later as he jogged off the court during a timeout.

His scoreless streak was finally broken with 1:11 left before halftime when he glided in for a putback dunk off Payton Pritchard’s missed 3-pointer. After a Dallas miss, he followed that up by splashing a corner 3-pointer.

Several Mavericks players took moments during breaks in the game to welcome Tatum back. They included Klay Thompson, who gave Tatum a hug prior to the start of the second quarter. Thompson tore his Achilles tendon in 2020 while rehabbing from an ACL tear in 2019.

Mazzulla said Tatum' return has been building for weeks.

“From Day 1 it’s just been a constant conversation," Mazzulla said. "Throughout the process you’ve just trusted this journey. I give him credit. We always knew he was coming back this year.”

Tatum, who had surgery May 13, made his return to the court after 298 days.

The Celtics have 19 games remaining in the regular season, including 11 at TD Garden to try to ramp up Tatum for what they hope will e a deep playoff run. Boston is second in the East.

“I don’t think that any athlete thinks that they’re ever going to bet hurt. At least, I didn’t," Tatum said. “When it happened, it knocked me on my (butt). It just kind of made my rethink a lot of things. I had an idea in the direction my career was going to go., and in one night it changed. ... The things I want to accomplish are still in front me.

"I'm really just kind of happy that I even got this far.”

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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum blows a kiss to fans after making a 3-pointer against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) takes a 3-point shot against Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who has not played since injuring his achilles tendon during the 2025 NBA playoffs, is greeted by fans prior to an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) shoots over Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0) and Sam Hauser (30) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is introduced prior to an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) goes up to shoot over Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, second from left, who has not played since injuring his achilles tendon during the 2025 NBA playoffs, is greeted by fans during a practice prior to an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum stands next to bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

TENERIFE, Spain (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization sought Saturday to reassure residents of the Spanish island where passengers of a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship are expected to be evacuated, issuing them a direct message that the virus was “not another COVID.”

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, with more than 140 passengers and crew on board, is headed to Spain's Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, and is expected to arrive at the island of Tenerife early Sunday.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, were due on the island Saturday to coordinate the disembarkation of passengers and some crew.

“I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word ‘outbreak’ and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment,” Tedros said in a message to the people of Tenerife.

“But I need you to hear me clearly: This is not another COVID. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now,” Tedros added.

The WHO, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said nobody on the Hondius is currently showing symptoms of the virus.

Hantavirus can cause life-threatening illness. It usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus.

Some on Tenerife say they are worried. On board the cruise ship, some Spanish passengers have voiced concern about being stigmatized.

“I tell you, I don’t like this very much,” said 69-year-old resident Simon Vidal. “Anyone can say what they want. Why did they have to bring a boat from another country here? Why not anywhere else, why bring it to the Canary Islands?”

Others said they empathized with the boat's passengers, but were still concerned.

“The truth is that it is very worrying,” said 27-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Samantha Aguero. She added: “We feel a bit unsafe, we don’t feel as there are 100% security measures in place to welcome it. This is a virus after all and we have lived this during the pandemic. But we also need to have empathy.”

Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said passengers and some crew would disembark in Tenerife “under maximum safety conditions.”

The ship will not dock but will remain at anchor. Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms and won't be taken off the ship until a flight is already in Tenerife waiting to fly them off the island, Garcia said during a news conference in Madrid. There are currently people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.

Both the U.S. and the U.K. have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens. Americans are to be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.

All Spanish passengers will be transferred to a medical facility and quarantined, Garcia said. Oceanwide has listed 13 Spanish passengers and one Spanish crew member on board.

Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, Garcia said, and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, charger and documentation.

Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection, the minister added.

According to a letter sent by the Dutch foreign and health ministers to parliament late Friday, Spain has activated the EU civil protection mechanism for a medical evacuation plane equipped for infections diseases to be on standby in case anyone on the ship becomes ill. That person would then be transported by air to the European mainland.

The Dutch government will work with Spanish authorities and the ship company to arrange repatriation of Dutch passengers and crew as soon as possible after arrival in Tenerife, subject to medical conditions and advice from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the letter said. Those without symptoms will go into home quarantine for six weeks and be monitored by local health services.

As the ship is Dutch-flagged, the Netherlands may also temporarily accommodate people of other nationalities and monitor them in quarantine, it said.

Health authorities across four continents were tracking down and monitoring more than two dozen passengers who disembarked before the deadly outbreak was detected. They were also scrambling to trace others who may have come into contact with them.

On April 24, nearly two weeks after the first passenger had died on board, more than two dozen people from at least 12 different countries left the ship without contact tracing, Dutch officials and the ship’s operator have said.

It wasn’t until May 2 that health authorities first confirmed hantavirus in a passenger.

Dutch public health authorities have been monitoring people who were on a flight that was briefly boarded by a Dutch ship passenger who later died and was confirmed to have hantavirus. Three people who were on the flight and had symptoms have all tested negative for hantavirus, Dutch National Institute for Public Health spokesperson Harald Wychgel told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Becatoros reported from Sparta, Greece. Associated Press reporters Angela Charlton in Paris and Helena Alves in Tenerife contributed to this report.

A Spanish Civil Guard officer inspects the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Media crew members stand in the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Workers set up temporary shelters in the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Passengers on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, scan the horizon with binoculars during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

Passengers on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, watch epidemiologists board the boat in Praia, during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

A passenger checks his camera inside his cabin on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

A passenger on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, takes a photo of the ship's weighing anchor in Praia, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)