We knew Jayson Tatum was playing through a shoulder injury suffered during the Celtics' playoff run this past spring. As it turns out, he was also playing through a wrist injury.
In an interview with Bleacher Report that was posted Sunday, Tatum revealed that he played the entire postseason with a small, non-displaced fracture in his left wrist.
"It was small, but it was still like a non-displaced chip," Tatum said. "So like I chipped the bone but it didn’t leave the surface. 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."
Tatum said he wore a brace before and after games to help stabilize the wrist, but that he would take it off any time he was around cameras. He also said he had to get a cortisone shot during the second round against Milwaukee after banging the wrist when he got hard-fouled by Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Tatum downplayed how much the wrist injury affected his play, but it's fair to wonder if it -- combined with the shoulder injury -- helps explain some of his struggles against the Warriors in the NBA Finals.
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