Former Bull Mickey Johnson, who averaged 15.2 points during five seasons with the franchise in the 1970s, detailed his experience with the novel coronavirus in a poignant video released on the team's website Friday.
"I was in the hospital shouting, 'I'm still alive. I'm still alive.' I didn't want this virus to beat me," Johnson, who turned 68 in August, said. "It was a terrible feeling, I can tell you that. I had a high fever, chills — not soft chills, hard chills that were shaking all over and a consistent cough."
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Johnson, who attended Lindblom High School in Chicago and now serves as a Bulls ambassador, thanked doctors and nurses at Rush University Medical Center for their attentive care. The Bulls employ hospital staff as its team physicians.
"I would have to call them family because they really took care of me as if I was one of their Rush children," he said. "This virus is no joke. I don't want anybody to go through this experience. I'm overwhelmed. It's touching me right now, because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here right now."