Celtics’ Evan Fournier opens up about how hard COVID-19 hit him

For most 20-somethings in good shape, if they did come down with COVID-19 they barely noticed. While the coronavirus hit the elderly or people with a preexisting condition hard, healthy young people were far less likely to be impacted.

But that’s not universal — some younger people got hit hard. Some of them did not survive.

The Celtics’ Evan Fournier, who returned to the court Friday night after missing 10 games, was one of the people hit hard and detailed his experience to Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston.

“My experience — where do I start? The first two days I was doing great, no symptoms at all, and then flu-like symptoms, high fever, really tired, fatigue, all that,” Fournier said. “I honestly stayed in bed and slept for four or five days. The roughest part was ramping up the activity. The last two days of practice was really hard. I had moments where I was doing good and moments where I was exhausted.

“That’s why you have to push through it. You have to do it to feel better. I don’t want to spend another week just ramping up my activity and doing cardio and all that. I need reps with the guys.”

Fournier isn’t the only Celtic feeling the impact of the coronavirus. Jayson Tatum said he still uses an inhaler before games because his breathing hasn’t returned to normal yet. The disease does take its toll on younger people, too.

Fournier looked like a guy who had been out of action and was working on his conditioning on Friday, going 0-of-7 from the floor in Boston’s loss to a shorthanded Brooklyn team. His shooting and conditioning should come back with time, and the Celtics will need his shooting in the final month of the season and into the playoffs.