On the same July day that AD, formerly known as Asia Durr, announced their intention to sit out the 2020 WNBA season, they were admitted to the Emory at Saint Joseph’s Primary Care clinic in Atlanta. (Sports Illustrated is publishing AD’s birth name once, with their consent, for clarity.) The No. 2 pick in the ’19 draft, AD had been spitting up blood and vomiting. They later learned they contracted bronchitis.
A month earlier, AD had tested positive for COVID-19. Initially, they didn’t want to believe they contracted the coronavirus. They assumed that after a 14-day quarantine, life would return to normal, and that, like the rest of their Liberty teammates, they would spend the summer at Florida’s IMG Academy, the site of the league’s bubble season.