Asia Durr was a young, up-and-coming rookie with the New York Liberty in 2019, scoring 10 points a game, and starting 15 of 18 contests she played. The 2019 season was the start of a promising professional career for the second overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft who was named the ACC Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019 while at the University of Louisville.
But Durr revealed in Tuesday’s episode of “Real Sports” on HBO that not only did the coronavirus cost her the 2020 season, but it is unclear if she’ll ever be able to play again. The episode featured several athletes who are dealing with “long-haul” symptoms to the coronavirus.
In the interview with Real Sports’ Mary Carillo, Durr said that she lost 32 pounds and has not picked up a basketball since her coronavirus diagnosis on June 8.
“There are days where I feel great, like I could go to the store or I can cleanup, and there are days where I have to stay in bed,” Durr told Carillo. “You just feel like you’re getting hit by a bus. My life has completely changed."
Durr said that she has seen a number of doctors, who have not been able to offer her any answers on when her basketball career could resume.
“I couldn’t breathe, I was spitting up blood,” Durr said. “Lung pain that was just so severe, it felt like someone took a long knife and was just stabbing you in your lungs.”
Durr said doctors are concerned that she could experience “flair ups” if she attempted to begin training for basketball.
After the episode aired on Tuesday, Durr thanked the public for the support.
“Thanks again everyone for the support,” Durr tweeted. “My hope is that in sharing my struggle, it will help others. PLEASE take COVID seriously folks. It’s very real. Wear a mask! Protect each other. Young people, athletes, you too. We are not invincible.”
The episode also featured Nicole Knudson, a college hockey player from St. Thomas (Minnesota), and Natalie Hakala, a long-distance runner who just completed her senior season at Concordia University.
The CDC says that for most people infected by the coronavirus, symptoms subside within a few weeks, but others could have symptoms for months. Those symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, joint pain, and chest pain. In more severe cases, the CDC says that long haulers could have symptoms such as inflammation of the heart muscle, cardiovascular function abnormalities, acute kidney injury, rash, hair loss, smell and taste problems, sleep issues, difficulty with concentration, memory problems, anxiety, and changes in mood.
Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk.Follow him on Twitter @jjboggs or on Facebook.