Herb Turetzky, Nets longtime scorekeeper, recovering from coronavirus

Herb Turetzky, the Nets only scorekeeper since they joined the ABA in 1967, is at home recovering from the coronavirus after a four-day hospital stay a month ago, Zach Braziller of the Post reports.

Monday, Braziller writes, was a big milestone for the 74-year-old. For the first time since mid-April, he was able to leave his bed and sit in his wheelchair. Turetzky suffers as well from spastic paraparisis, in which his brain and the nerves to his legs don’t communicate properly.

“I feel thrilled — very, very lucky,” the Nets’ official official scorer and member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame told The Post.

“I saw the numbers — I see them now, 91,000 people dead. I never had to get up on the ventilators,” he said. “They said that 80 percent of people that went on ventilators never came off of it. That number stuck in my head — 80 percent on ventilators never came off of it. That means they’re going to die or live on ventilators the rest of their life.”

Turetzky and his wife, Jane, first noticed symptoms on April 11, a little more than a month after he had scored his last game at Barclays Center. Jane immediately took him to St. Francis Hospital on Long Island.

“She was very vigilant and forceful, and it worked,” said Turetzky, who is uncertain how he contracted the virus, since he hasn’t left his home other than going to and from the hospital in more than two months. “I would imagine [it was] very important. If my temperature went from 102 to 104 and I had more problems from that, I would’ve been in worse shape.”

He was diagnosed with coronavirus but the only symptoms he experienced were the high fever and general malaise. He also lost 20 pounds.

“Other than that, there was nothing major,” he said. “I just couldn’t do anything. … I watched TV and slept.”

Turetzky is not part of the Nets traveling party and was not with them when the league shut down. Four players, including Kevin Durant, tested positive for the virus. All have since recovered and in at least KD’s case, didn’t experience symptoms.

Turetzky won’t be scoring for the Nets if and when the season resumes in a bubble environment. He’s only missed one game in his long tenure, back in 2018 when he experienced a high fever and inspection. Before that, he had scored 1,437 games.

But once the Nets return to Barclays Center next season, Turetzky told Braziller he plans to be there in his familiar spot.

• Nets longtime official scorer on mend from coronavirus - Zach Braziller - New York Post