Jayson Tatum has been blunt about the way COVID-19 impacted his body. The Boston Celtics star missed five games back in January after contracting the novel coronavirus, and while he’s made his way back onto the floor and certainly isn’t playing poorly, he’s had his ups and downs over the last few months.
Still, Tatum is optimistic that getting back to full health is just around the corner, although he’s being helped by an injaler. Tatum met with the media on Tuesday night after Boston’s 116-115 win over the Portland Trail Blazers and walked through how he feels three months after contracting COVID.
“Close,” Tatum said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “Very close. It’s a process. It takes a long time. I take an inhaler before the game since I’ve tested positive. This has kind of helped with that and opened up my lungs, and, you know, I never took an inhaler before. So that’s something different. I for sure feel better now than I did a month ago.”
Tatum has been playing some of his best basketball of the year for the suddenly scorching Celtics, averaging 29.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists while shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from three over the last seven games. Boston has won four in a row and six of its last seven, and in Tuesday night’s win, Tatum hit a triple in the game’s waning moments to seal things.