Jalen Brunson Says the NBA 'Needs Jayson Tatum' After Celtics Star's Achilles Injury

New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson believes the NBA is better when Jayson Tatum is playing.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Brunson said the NBA "needs Jayson Tatum" in the wake of the Boston Celtics star undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles suffered in the Knicks' win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Brunson definitely knows of what he speaks given the longstanding rivalry between the Knicks and Celtics.

The injury ended Tatum's season early and has left his status for 2025-26 up in the air. The Celtics didn't give any timetable for his potential return.

One of the many devastating effects of Tatum being injured is he has been one of the most durable players in the NBA throughout his career. He has played at least 72 regular-season games six times in eight seasons.

Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Tatum ranks fourth among all players in total minutes. He is also one of the most consistent players from season to season.

While the MVP results for this season have not yet been announced, Tatum figures to be high on the list. He could end up with his fourth consecutive top-six finish in the voting.

In addition to Tatum's individual performance, losing him for an extended period of time raises a lot of questions about what the Celtics are going to look like next season.

Tatum was in the midst of arguably the best playoff game of his career when the injury occurred. He scored 42 points on 16-of-28 shooting (7-of-16 from three-point range) with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in 40 minutes.

Given the Celtics' standing as one of the marquee franchises in the NBA with a core that was good enough to win a second straight title, though a 3-1 series deficit against the Knicks made their climb extremely steep even before Tatum went down, losing their best player is definitely going to hurt the league until he returns.