Evan Fournier Still In A Fog After Battling COVID-19: 'It's Like I Have A Concussion'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Evan Fournier has not had the best go of things upon his arrival in Boston. Acquired by the Celtics to provide a scoring punch off the bench, Fournier has been plagued with COVID-related issues and shooting slumps.
Before he could even suit up for his new team, Fournier had to miss a few games after a false-positive. He struggled in his Boston debut, missing all 10 of his shots. And when he started to look somewhat comfortable in his new uniform, Fournier actually got COVID-19 and had to miss nine games.
Fournier has been back for four games, and Sunday's loss against Portland was the best he's looked for the Celtics since the March 25 trade deadline. He scored 21 points off 8-for-10 shooting, hitting five of his seven attempts from deep.
So Fournier is back, right? Not quite.
"I've been feeling really weird, to be honest," Fournier told reporters on Sunday. "It's like I have a concussion."
Fournier said that he is doing a little better, but bright lights and the never-ending motion on the court still bother him.
"At times I am really struggling to focus and my eyes keep struggling focusing on one thing," he said. "My depth perception is really bad right now."
That's not the best situation for a guy who shoots a basketball for a living, and it would have probably been in Fournier's best interest to take a few more games off. But he didn't want to lose valuable time with his new team, even if he is nowhere near where he wants to be.
"I can't just take games off or a practice off because I'm not feeling well mentally," he said. "My body's available, I have to be available."
The Celtics have been hit hard by COVID-19 this season, more so than any other team in the NBA. All-Star Jayson Tatum missed time in January and recently admitted that he needs to use an inhaler before games to open his lungs. Center Tristan Thompson and guard Romeo Langford also had to miss time with the virus in March and April.
Fournier hopes it will all be behind him when the postseason rolls around. It sounds like things can really only go up for him from here on out.
"It's very unfortunate, the timing of things. Obviously, I'm new here, so people don't really know my game and know who I am, and it's just terrible timing," he said. "I get here with high expectations and ambitions, trying to make a run, and for the first time in my career I have an opportunity to make a really deep run into the playoffs with a team. So it's kind of a golden opportunity for me to finally be with a great team, and the fact that I got COVID and now I'm feeling like this, it's heartbreaking, to be honest."
