Post COVID-19, Jayson Tatum says he still needs inhaler to open lungs up before games

Back in January, Jayson Tatum tested positive for COVID-19 and missed three weeks as the virus hit him pretty hard. Weeks after his return he talked about how the virus still impacted his breathing.

It’s mid-April, and Tatum told reporters he is now using an inhaler before games to help open up his lungs.

Jayson Tatum revealed he now has to take an inhaler to open up his lungs since he got COVID, something he has never had to do before.

"I for sure feel better now than I did a month ago."

— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) April 14, 2021

Here’s more, via Boston.com.

“I’ve talked to guys that said it took months for them to kind of catch their breath, and get their wind back. And I think I’m kind of on the same track with that,” Tatum said. “I for sure feel better. I don’t feel necessarily the same before I got it when I was playing. I definitely know there’s a difference. But I feel pretty good.”

This is a 23-year-old professional athlete who months later is still feeling the impacts of having come down with COVID-19. This disease is unpredictable, plenty of people Tatum’s age barely noticed if they contracted the virus, but for others it became life-threatening and lingering, or worse. There is so much we don’t know and understand about it, even as the vaccine rollout in the United States slowly has life returning to a new normal.

Tatum has looked more like his All-NBA self of late, dropping 53 on Minnesota last week and Tuesday night sticking the dagger in Portland.

My goodness, JT pic.twitter.com/XWdxAi9PH3

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 14, 2021

It’s good for Tatum (and the Celtics) he has found a medical routine with the inhaler that works — he is at the core of the future in Boston. It’s a little concerning that he needed to.