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Young relieved his leg infection was treated quickly

Bulls forward Thad Young identified the exact moment when he knew something might be seriously wrong with his left leg.

"At first I wasn't scared at all until I got to the hospital and I seen my leg and then she went and got three or four other doctors," he said Monday. "Usually when they go get three or four other doctors and bring them in the room with you, then something's wrong. Like, really wrong. That's when I started to get a little worried about it."

The injury has been listed as a left lower leg infection. Young said he's suffering from MRSA, which stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It's a type of staph infection that is seen at times in athletes.

He participated in shootaround before the Bulls first preseason game Dec. 11, and even spoke to reporters on a Zoom call, but requested a doctor visit as the infection became more painful.

"By the time I got to the hospital right after shootaround, it was super, super swollen and very, very sore and painful," he said. "And my leg was like numb.

"It had been bothering me kind of like that whole week. But I was just thinking, 'OK, it's a little nick or whatever.' "

The most well-known case of MRSA in the NBA was Grant Hill, who had significant issues in 2003 after an ankle surgery.

"Thank God we caught it super early," Young said. "Just been dealing with it, trying to get myself back. It's healing well now. I just got cleared to start doing some kind of activity, whether it's like getting on the bike or a light run and shooting. I've been doing upper body lifts, so hopefully I can start doing lower leg stuff soon."

So Young remains out indefinitely. Bulls coach Billy Donovan said guard Tomas Satoransky is still away from the team following NBA protocols, so it's probably safe to say neither player will be available for Wednesday's season opener against Atlanta.

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