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Bulls' recent COVID-19 returns a reminder of human element

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Perhaps the most jarring element to COVID-19 in today’s NBA is how a virus with so much unknown surrounding it is listed on the injury report like a sprained ankle.

The league knew positive tests would happen and games would be postponed. And, with the future of the league’s current economic model at stake, the players association agreed to the return-to-play protocols.

But when Chandler Hutchison and Tomáš Satoranský returned to Bulls practice, as they did Wednesday after both testing positive, it reminds you of the human element. Satoranský has a wife and young child at home. Hutchison detailed serious symptoms.

The NBA also Wednesday announced its fresh positive count since Jan. 13 -- 11 of 502 players tested. Like other pro sports leagues, it’s clear the NBA is going to forge ahead. But even as Hutchison and Satoranský both offered support for the process and reasons behind playing, hearing their words could give you pause.

“The strange thing is it affects everybody differently. And I think that’s how it can be misconstrued as to the severity of it,” Hutchison said. “Some people go through it and they have no symptoms. So their experience when they communicate with other people is it was a walk in the park. This isn’t something to worry about.

“On the other end, you get something that I experienced where I’m 24, at tip-top shape, an athlete -- I like to consider myself a pretty good athlete -- and I get hit pretty hard. So my conversation is that it’s very serious. And you see how it can affect someone twice or three times my age and you can see how it can put someone elderly in the hospital. And that we really have to take control of this.

“If it was bad for everyone, I think everyone would take it a lot more serious. The cases it doesn’t, it puts gray area out there.”

Satoranský's positive test marked his second experience in isolation. During the preseason, following close contact to the since-waived Noah Vonleh who tested positive, Satoranský entered a quarantine period as part of the league’s health and safety protocol. At least during that absence, the veteran guard could be around his wife and child.

After returning to Chicago from Washington, D.C. in a Sprinter van ride with teammates Lauri Markkanen and Ryan Arcidiacono following Hutchison’s positive test, Satoranský had to self-isolate when he tested positive as well.

“Obviously, when I knew that I’m positive, it was beyond frustration. It was a difficult moment. I was fine going into the isolation on my own, but I was kind of worried about my family,” Satoranský said. “Fortunately, they all tested negative. So that calmed me down. But mentally, that was the toughest part, just being away from the team for the second time, watching the games, knowing you could help.”

Unlike Hutchison, Satoranský said he never experienced serious symptoms. And he acknowledged that all players understood the risks inherent in playing a season outside the so-called bubble environment that the league used to finish the 2019-20 season on the Disney World campus in Florida.

Hutchison pointed to the league and players association’s recent agreement on more stringent protocols, things ranging from less on-court socializing between opponents and no visitors to hotel rooms, as an encouraging sign.

But the virus, and looming threat of it, adds a mental challenge component to this season beyond the physical risks.

“You are saying, like, ‘What am I doing wrong because I was following all the rules?’” Satoranský said. “But it just tells you that this virus is unpredictable and you have to be extra careful. And even if you’re careful by bad luck, you might get it. I had to just accept it at one point.

“I think I’m a strong person mentally and I just tried to rest and get rid of it and follow guys and observe their game and how they play and try to help as much as I can immediately once I come back.”

That will be Friday in Charlotte against the Hornets. Hutchison and Satoranský both said they plan to play. And despite so much still unknown about the long-term effects of the virus, both players are looking forward.

“I’m not, no,” Hutchison said, when asked if he’s worried about long-term effects. “In order to return to play, you have to do a certain amount of tests -- heart tests, blood tests. And everything came back clear. So from my aspect, I just had a tough flu and you take it slow gradually and work your way back up to get back in shape.”

Again, that sounds like rehabilitation from an injury, not an illness that has paralyzed the world, leaving so much destruction in its wake and so much uncertainty for the future.

“I would just say, just do what you can,” Hutchison said. “I thought I was doing everything I could to maintain my safety. But that’s the thing, there are some things you can’t control. You just hope for the best here and you try to limit the things you do that put you at risk.”

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