Craig Carton will not let the dark cloud hanging over Jayson Tatum’s concerning injury rain on the New York Knicks’ Game 4 win over the Boston Celtics.
Late in the fourth quarter of the Knicks 121-113 victory Monday night, Tatum suffered an injury that forced him to be carried off the court. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst later said seeing the defending champion in a wheelchair was “deflating,” claiming it now hangs a “dark cloud” over the win.
But with the Knicks one win away from returning to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a quarter-century, Craig Carton wasn’t going to waste time crying about Tatum’s injury on his FS1 morning show.
“It was sad to see one of the great players in the sport go down… but I’m not crying about it. I’ve never seen a championship since 1986 with the New York Mets when I was in high school. I want the easiest possible road to a championship.” — @craigcartonlive pic.twitter.com/HE7qji3wPt
— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) May 13, 2025
“You never root for injury,” Carton acknowledged on Breakfast Ball. “It was sad to see one of the great players in the sport go down with what is apparently a torn Achilles, which knocks him out for the rest of the postseason and the majority of next year, which sucks…But I ain’t crying about it. I’m not making excuses for it.
“I’ve said a million times on this show and every show I’ve ever done, I’ve never seen a championship since 1986 with the New York Mets when I was in high school. I want the easiest possible road to a championship. When you’re at the parade, nobody ever looks back and goes, ‘Yeah, but you beat the Celtics in Game 5 with Jayson Tatum.’ You celebrate the championship. So, sucks being you, Boston. And I don’t root for the injury, but I ain’t complaining about it.”
Celtics fans might find that to be a little harsh or cold, but Carton did quickly clarify his comments to note, “Let’s be clear, we don’t want him to have the leg amputated, but if he can’t play ball for the next two weeks, c’est la vie.” Nice of Carton to let Tatum keep his leg.
But according to Carton’s FS1 colleague Colin Cowherd, the Celtics should be better off without Tatum anyway. Cowherd dubbed Tatum a net negative before his 42-point performance in Game 4, claiming the Celtics’ “net rating often goes up” when he doesn’t play. Obviously, that is a ridiculous hot take with no real supporting evidence.
The Knicks had a nine-point lead over Boston and were on the verge of taking a 3-1 series lead before Tatum suffered the injury with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. But if the Knicks finish the job, there will be no asterisk. As NBA fans, we can all feel bad for Tatum and root for him to get healthy as soon as possible, but for Knicks fans, there is no dark cloud hanging over this 3-1 lead.