Milwaukee Bucks: Pat Connaughton talks road to recovery from COVID-19

As he continues to work his way back into game shape down in Orlando, Milwaukee Bucks wing Pat Connaughton discussed his bout with COVID-19.

With the Milwaukee Bucks having kicked off their return to action over the past few days, along with the rest of the NBA, there’s no doubt that Pat Connaughton is itching to get back on the court.

Connaughton was the last arriving Bucks player down in Walt Disney World and for good reason as he was one of two players to have contracted COVID-19, along with starting point guard Eric Bledsoe.

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Both Connaughton and Bledsoe have yet to make their debuts since joining their teammates down in Orlando, but have steadily made progress to the point where they’re regularly taking part in 5-on-5 scrimmages.

But unlike Bledsoe, who was asymptomatic throughout his bout with the coronavirus, Connaughton wasn’t as lucky as the 27-year-old recently talked about his experience with the virus and the various symptoms he felt with Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"“I had a little muscle aches, which was a little weird, lasted about 12 hours,” Connaughton said. “Other than that it was just your normal fever, maybe a little bit of lack of energy, maybe a little loss of taste, the things that, quite frankly, I have when I have had the flu or a head cold or something like that. The only difference was that little period where I had some muscle aches. After about five days I pretty much felt healthy.”"

After having kept up with his fitness routine all throughout the hiatus and having had to get creative doing so as he talked about with Velazquez and countless others, the positive diagnosis surely came at an inopportune time for the Notre Dame product.

Of course, Connaughton’s case was far milder than many have experienced throughout the pandemic and it’s very good to see that he’s gotten through on the other side to the point where he’s practicing regularly and theoretically nearing a return to action.

And Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and the team’s medical staff are well within their right to practice caution when it comes to turning Connaughton, along with Bledsoe, loose and making their Orlando debuts. Connaughton’s case, in particular, is worth monitoring even more closely, given that we have no idea of the long-term effects of having the virus in the first place.

Still, Connaughton’s picked up right where he left off and is trying to keep up to the point when the powers that be feel he’s ready for game action again, he’ll be good to go, as he told the following to Velazquez in that same piece:

"“My body feels great,” Connaughton said. “Now it’s just about making sure I’m ready for that game type of shape, which you can’t really simulate, so you got to just do your best and prepared when your number’s called.”"

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Once he is able to, the Bucks will only be made more whole by Connaughton’s presence on the floor and fortify the team’s rotation even further than it already is through their first two games in Orlando.

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