A stubborn flu bug had pestered the UCLA basketball team for weeks, hitting one player, then another. So when the Bruins gathered for dinner recently, their athletic trainer made an announcement.
"Hey, guys," Carrie Rubertino Shearer recalled saying, "great opportunity to wash your hands right now."
They all laughed, but she wasn't joking. When it comes to basketball -- from high school through the pros -- influenza is the hidden opponent on everyone's schedule.
This other hoops fever has been part of the sport's folklore since Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, when the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan dragged himself out of bed to score 38 points against the Utah Jazz.
This season, flu-like symptoms have thinned rosters in Atlanta, New York and Indianapolis. They had the Lakers' Kobe Bryant alternately vomiting, receiving intravenous fluids and scoring clutch baskets against the Cleveland Cavaliers last month.
Local college teams have been hit just as hard, with a handful of USC and UCLA players struggling through games leading up to the Pacific 10 Conference tournament at Staples Center this week.
"This year's been unbelievable," said Wally Blase, the trainer for the Atlanta Hawks. "In the last month, we've had four guys get really sick and three guys miss time."
Sneezing and coughing, the occasional virus that morphs into gastrointestinal distress or worse -- athletes aren't the only ones who suffer. Like everyone else, they encounter airborne and respiratory diseases in crowded places, but the nature of their sport can leave them especially vulnerable.
Through the heart of flu season -- roughly November to March -- they face constant play, practice and air travel.
The 82-game NBA schedule has the Lakers visiting seven cities in 12 days later this month. College players go a little easier with two games a week, but they must attend to schoolwork.
"Physical exhaustion can make one's immune system less able to fight off infection," said Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Once a virus sneaks onto a team, it can spread quickly in showers, meeting rooms and on the court. As Lakers trainer Gary Vitti said: "We're on top of each other all the time."
Like many teams, the Lakers offer flu shots each season -- and not just for players. Coaches, trainers and ball boys -- even the broadcasters who follow the team -- are encouraged to get vaccinated.
