Liberty’s Asia Durr cleared to play basketball again after missing two seasons due to COVID-19

Few athletes have been impacted by COVID-19 as much as Asia Durr, but the New York Liberty guard is finally on the comeback trail. On Monday night, she announced that she has been cleared to return to basketball after missing the past two WNBA seasons. 

In a video posted to Instagram, Durr said she went through extensive testing and passed all the required exams, including a cardiac screening. 

Durr’s full comments:

“As y’all know, I was sick last year and I have long haulers. But today I went through extensive amount of testing, cardiac testing — and when you play in the WNBA you have to go through certain testing after positive COVID. You have to go through cardiac testing, like everything to make sure your heart has no damage from COVID, right.”

“So, I went through all of that testing and guys, guess what? I have been cleared to play basketball again. Yeah! Let’s go! I have been cleared to play basketball!”

This is tremendous news for Durr, who, like so many others over the past few years, has had her life turned upside down by COVID-19. She initially tested positive early in 2020 and had to opt out of that season on the advice of her doctors. Unfortunately, her recovery went slowly and she wasn’t ready to play last season either. 

During an interview earlier this year, she revealed that she lost 32 pounds during her battle with COVID-19, was still struggling with symptoms a year after her diagnosis and was worried she might never play again. Thankfully, it appears that things have turned around and she can get back to doing what she loves. Her joy in that video was evident. 

What this means for her WNBA future remains to be seen. She’s still under contract with the Liberty for next season, and they will be happy to have her back. After all, she was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft for a reason and has the exact offensive skills this team needs. But she hasn’t been able to do any sort of basketball activity in about 18 months, and it’s not going to be easy to get back into the swing of things after that much time away. 

It will be interesting to see if Durr joins Athletes Unlimited, the new women’s basketball league starting play this January. The winter league, which will take place from Jan. 29 to Feb. 28, is designed to give WNBA players a chance to play and earn money in the offseason without going overseas. It remains to be seen how that league will fare but, in theory, it would be a perfect chance for Durr to try and regain some rhythm. 

In any case, this is so great for Durr and it’s going to be fun to watch her whenever she gets back on the court.