One month ago, on March 3, the worst thing that happened to the Boston Celtics was getting outscored 62-36 in the fourth quarter and overtime by the Brooklyn Nets.
Today they are in isolation and the world is in crisis. The coronavirus pandemic has shut down sports and other large gatherings, and it did so with the speed and ferocity of an avalanche. In a matter of days, the Celtics went from doling out hand sanitizer before media scrums to standing six feet apart from the media to isolation.
“First I was praying for my teammates and the whole world because obviously that’s not the situation we wanted to be in," Enes Kanter told reporters in a conference call on Friday. "It was very sad because, obviously, we’re competitors, we wanted to go out there and play basketball, but like everybody says, player safety first. For us, just making sure not just our teammates, the whole organization, everybody in the organization and in the other organizations are safe and good.”
The Celtics were one of the NBA teams that found private COVID-19 tests. Their recent proximity to Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who was the first NBA player to show symptoms and test positive, added some urgency to Boston getting its own tests. Marcus Smart became the only Celtic to test positive, though he never showed any symptoms.
Kanter says he remained confidence that Smart would be fine, even though it was scary.
“I was just worried about all my other teammates and I was praying for Marcus Smart but I knew he was going to beat it. He’s a strong kid, he’s a strong guy,” Kanter said. “That virus never faced anyone like Marcus Smart.”
Smart is now among the NBA players who have been cleared of coronavirus, and who will donate their blood plasma to recovery efforts. The plasma contains antibodies that fight COVID-19, and will be used for both research and treatment of the most seriously ill coronavirus patients. Smart has also been outspoken in the need for young people in their 20′s, like him, to take the virus seriously.
“It’s so amazing to see how outspoken he is about all of this stuff because people need it,” Kanter said. “He’s a big voice, because he’s been through it, you knew how he felt, what he’s been through. He’s an amazing, intelligent, educated person, so it’s good to see how outspoken he is.”