Bulls new addition Garrett Temple sidelined by COVID
Before practice even began, the Bulls had their first brush with COVID-19.
New addition Garrett Temple tested positive and has been at a hotel in quarantine during the first week of training camp. He shared his experience with reporters on a Zoom call Sunday.
"I'm pretty sure I know I got it from a family member," Temple said. "I was in Louisiana during Thanksgiving. My family got together, and I believe I got it from a family member.
"Most of my family did not get it, which was good. My dad, my mom, nobody over 60, nobody with underlying conditions has it, which is great. My wife and my son are both negative, which is great. That's where we are today."
Temple, a veteran guard entering his 11th NBA season, is the Bulls' lone free-agent addition. He played in Brooklyn last year and was part of the Orlando bubble this summer.
Temple said he tested positive on the first day he reported to the Advocate Center. Since then, he's stayed at the hotel and thinks the worst is over.
"I'm past most of the symptomatic stages," he said. "Headache, that was the biggest thing for me at first. There was some fatigue. The worst was the day I tested positive. I just had a lot of fatigue. I just didn't have any energy at all.
"I haven't had really any loss of taste or smell. That's one of the things that people talk about. I haven't had that. Congested nose, not anything crazy. A cough, but again, it wasn't a cough that you'd say I'd need to go to the doctor for.
"The shortness of breath. - you all live in Chicago, so anytime you work out or run when it's cold outside and you get that hollow feeling in your chest - that's the kind of feeling that the shortness of breath for me was."
Temple hopes to be able to return to the Advocate Center on Wednesday and start some activities. First he needs to have two negative COVID tests 24 hours apart.
This is certain to be a difficult task for the NBA, playing a season with no bubble and full travel, during the winter when coronavirus cases are spiking around the country. Temple admitted he regrets not wearing a mask when he was with family during Thanksgiving.
The Bulls signed Temple to provide some veteran leadership in the backcourt, and frankly, because he was willing to sign a one-year deal, which won't affect their cap space next summer. He played with Otto Porter for three seasons in Washington.
"I always loved the city," Temple said of his decision to join the Bulls. "I've known coach (Billy) Donovan for a long time. We battled in college when I was at LSU and he was at Florida. I have great respect for him. I found out he also has great respect for me. When he called and told me they were interested, it immediately became appealing from that regard.
"Then I loved the roster. I think Zach (LaVine) is a budding superstar in his league. I love Wendell Carter. I've known Tomas (Satoransky) since when he came to D.C. and did a workout for the Wizards before he got drafted. And I've known Arturas (Karnisovas) since my time as a rookie at Houston. It's a lot of different things that made that happen."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls