The Philadelphia 76ers have dealt with COVID-19 a lot over the past year and a half. Early in the 2020-21 season, the team was ravaged by the virus after Seth Curry tested positive after eight games. That resulted in half the team ending up in the league’s protocol due to contact tracing.
The Sixers are experiencing it again to begin the 2021-22 season. Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid, Matisse Thybulle and Isaiah Joe have been in the protocol after testing positive for COVID-19.
Harris returned in Thursday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, and he played well in 36 minutes Despite the virus affecting his endurance, the star forward went out and he battled.
To help him get back and to help him know what to expect, Curry talked to Harris.
“He knows at this point,” said Curry. “He knows everybody has experienced some sense of it. He talked to me and a bunch of other people about it. Everybody just deals with it differently, have different symptoms, and for him to come back and play 36 minutes, he obviously felt better than I did when I came back.”
Harris admitted he was not able work out or practice for much of the time while he was out with the virus. He had to sit in bed until he was ready to go.
“Nothing,” he said. “For me, the first few days were very bad symptoms. I couldn’t really leave the bed for a few days. From there, once I started collecting negative tests, I was able to get two days to come in the gym and shoot and whatnot. I was able to play today and I wanted to go out there and give it a go.”
Harris described what he did over the 10 days. He tested positive before the team’s Nov. 1 matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers and was a late scratch. He almost played in the game and got tested after, but team trainer Kevin Johnson warned him what would happen in that case.
“From the day that I got COVID-19, it was like I came in here and I told KJ, I said that I am not feeling too hot, but I’ll get tested after the game’,” Harris stated. “He was like, ‘If you get tested after the game and you have COVID-19, the whole team is going be in isolation.’ So, I was like, ‘Alright test me now.’ Then the results came back and, for me, I just thought I had allergies at first.”
When Harris went home that night, his situation worsened. He began experiencing all of the symptoms that come with the virus even though he is vaccinated and a relatively healthy person.
“When I got back home that night it was rough, like fever, body aches, the whole nine, so from there it was tough,” he explained. “The team battled, obviously, we talk in the group text all the way through, watching the fight that was like life for me, really. I was sitting on the couch watching, but I’m a very relatively healthy person. I consider myself so when that bug came and got me that was tough.”
The fact Harris was able to play as much as he did is a good sign both for him and the Sixers. It means he has recovered nicely, and he is getting back to full health. He will have Curry to lean on in the meantime.
“I know it’s different for everybody,” Curry added. “Some people say they feel good when they come back. Some people it takes a little bit of time and some guys are up and down so I haven’t talked to him or know how he felt throughout the game, but for him to play 36 minutes is pretty good.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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