Happ is vigilant about coronavirus
Ex-UW star provides lesson for all of us
Ethan Happ was on a tear his rookie season in Italy.
He was playing so well – averaging 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, all while boosting team Vanoli of Cremona into a playoff push – that he was getting mentioned in the five-man race for most valuable player for Lega Basket Serie, the best basketball league in Italy.
But the All-American from Wisconsin also watched first-hand as the coronavirus blossomed into a national health crisis that has killed nearly 1,500 Italians and 6,000 people worldwide.
With his season suspended, Happ, 23, got one of the last flights out before President Donald Trump shut down incoming travel from Europe for non-U.S. citizens. Happ flew out of Milan, Italy, on Thursday morning, connected in Frankfurt, Germany, and then finally landed in Chicago on Thursday night.
He wore a mask and protective glasses, wiped down his seating area with cleaning wipes and was armed with sanitizer to clean his hands for the trip.
He had just finished a 200-push-up, 45-pound plated squat and multi-exercise workout Sunday morning in his living room when – admittedly, very bored – he agreed to talk to me. Happ is at his Milan, Illinois, home on self-quarantine for two weeks.
His parents, Randy and Teresa, have checked into a hotel.
Sunday was also the deadliest for Italy, with 368 lives lost in 24 hours. Here are excerpts of that interview: Q. How are you feeling?
A. I feel great! I took close to every precaution I could in Italy. I made my
own meals for a month and a half, which, up until the coronavirus, I never really made anything at home. I washed my hands a lot. Didn't touch my face. The only issue is we still had to practice up until about two weeks. Which, it's not like volleyball where you're not real physical. In basketball, there's a lot of touching and people breathing close to you. There was nothing I could do about it. I took vitamin C and vitamin D every day so that even if I did get it, my immune system would be strong enough to fight it off.
Q. What did you cook at home? A. One of my favorites became frozen burgers. I did everything in the frozen section; I didn't want anything that was handled by other people, and even if it was, it was frozen, so the likelihood of the virus being killed by being frozen over time was good. I did frozen chicken, chicken nuggets.
Q. Did you have any reservations about practicing? You knew coronavirus was dangerous. Did you raise concerns, or was that a tough decision for you – to keep practicing with the team?
A. I did raise concerns. I became good friends with a lot of people in the organization and one of them was the team operations manager. I was telling him to have us stop practicing, and to let us get out of the country while we still can. And this was when there were 100 cases in Italy. And he said there were no cases in Cremona, the city I was playing in, and until we hear otherwise, we're going to keep practicing. I guess I could have taken some initiative and just left the country – but I didn't want to do that to my teammates. And obviously you don't get a paycheck when that happens. So I stuck it out.
Q. The situation in Italy breaks my heart. Hospitals at 200% capacity, the death toll there is horrible, the elderly are the most affected. What has been tough for you to witness over there first-hand?
A. The elderly. The hospitals are at such a capacity all throughout Italy, but especially in the towns around me. If a young person such as myself came in with the virus, and an older person came in, say 65, or 70, at such a capacity they would only treat me. And they would tell the older person to go home. They were literally choosing who was going to get treatment because of the rates that elderly people are dying at, versus the rate of recovery for younger people.
That's a tough humanity question. A scary, post-apocalyptic thing you don't even want to think about, but it was actually happening.
Q. How old are your parents?
A. My dad is 60; my mom is 54. They're not even at home; they're staying at a hotel. Obviously they love me, and they love me enough to go stay in a hotel right now. My dad has some preexisting health conditions that, if he did get COVID-19, he would be in some trouble. So he doesn't want to take any risks.
I was going to stay at the hotel instead, but my dad is an absolutely fantastic guy and he's right on this: he doesn't want me to put anyone else at risk, like a hotel worker.
I feel fine, but young people can carry it and not even know it. So we're waiting two weeks, with them living in the hotel, and then they'll come home – if nothing happens with me.
Q. Your parents are awesome. It also hurts to hear that; I know how much they want to be around you right now, so to staying away is probably really hard.
A. We had dinner in the driveway a few days ago, when it was still kind of warm out. They were at the end of the driveway, sitting in the back of the truck, and I was in the garage, and we were having pizza. It was good. They kept saying they wanted to run over and give me a hug, but obviously it's worth it for everyone, if this comes out OK for our family.
Q. I have a feeling that you come home, from Italy, and watch how us Americans are acting, going out – and I’m guessing that you think we’re foolish. Or just ignorant.
A. Oh yes, on the money. I just got off FaceTime with one of my friends. And foolish is an understatement. It's perspective, though.
Americans that haven't witnessed what I saw in Italy, and what you see going around on the internet, people think it's just the flu. Coronavirus travels so much faster than the flu. It's kind of an ignorance.
People my age, I watch Snap stories, and Instagram stories, and they're in packed bars. It honestly makes me sick to my stomach, a bit, because I know that the precautions that I'm taking, the precautions that my family are taking – and then that gets thrown out the window, to a certain extent, when everyone is going out. And acting like everything is normal.
And I know, after seeing the stories on social media, we're heading to where Italy is – if that does continue, huge, large gatherings. Concerts. And not taking the advice that the government and the sporting leagues have given us, then we are going right to where Italy is.
We're not where Italy is, yet. Hopefully we get more testing kits. That's why I am in the house for so long, because I'm not able to get a test – without showing symptoms. We have a chance to curb the growth. If we're able to give the health care system some time, then this won't be a tragedy like it is in Italy.
It might be an inconvenience, but it's time to suck it up. They're in a hotel. I am back home for the first time in forever, and I am not seeing my friends. I'm not doing anything. I'm not even going to the gym to work out. I'm trying to suck it up so that the future isn't as bleak as it is in Italy right now.
I think it's time for everyone to act. And do their part. But you can't tell people how to live.
Q. I’ve been following this outbreak closely for months, but when they suspended play in the NBA …
A. They canceled the NBA. Crazy. Canceled the NCAA. That's even crazier. They canceled your classes . ...
Instead of heeding all this advice, instead of staying at home, they're out at bars! I don't mean to sound like an old person here but I've seen the other side, what happened in Italy. The fact that they canceled all this stuff should be a flashing sign in your face: do not go out. It boggles my mind. Like I said, it kind of makes me sick to my stomach.
The best thing right now is quarantine. I have friends that are going cross country, to Florida, to warmer places just because they can. There's nothing to do. But it's scary.
Q. When I think of a 23-year-old, especially a top athlete, I think of someone who believes he is invincible. And yet you don’t sound like someone who thinks he is invincible. You really are taking this seriously and being thoughtful and considerate.
A. There was a point where Italy has 26 cases and it jumped to 52 the next day. And then it jumped to like 132 the next. When it was growing that rapidly, by the third day I said this is going to be serious. At first they could trace it; OK this person came in contact with this person. By the third day they couldn't figure that out, and at that moment I knew, when you couldn't trace it back anymore, it was going to get real serious in Italy.
That's when I started taking the precautions of eating inside and not going to restaurants anymore. And not touch any part of my face in practice. I never really feared for my own safety. I am young, I'm in great shape.
I feared for the sake of our basketball team. One of my teammates is (former Marquette player) Travis Diener; 38 is young, but he's got a family. You don't want him to bring that home to his kids or his wife.
It was never really about myself. It was: to not spread it.
I know that if my parents get it, or my neighbors, or my best friend's parents, then their chances of recovery go down the older they are.
It's a choice you have to make.
Q. The last debate for me is the gym. It’s the hardest thing for me to give up but I feel guilty if I go, even though I have changed my routine, avoided people, wiped down things thoroughly. But it doesn’t feel right.
A. Me and my dad had a couple of arguments over this, actually, because I really wanted to work out in a gym by myself. But he didn't even want me to risk that – which I think is smart as well.
I'm not really wired to sit around and do nothing. This two-week quarantine isn't good for us. Plus, you boost your immune system by working out. But I'm sure there are thousands of workout ideas online . ...
Everyone has a choice. There's a clear, correct choice; the poor choice is to go out and act like nothing is going on. It might not affect you but it could affect your neighbor, your friend's grandparents.