Just about everyone who has anything to do with the NBA will be vaccinated this season. Team staff including coaches, medical personnel, front office members and even arena security will all be vaccinated. So will the NBA’s referees.
The only folks who collectively won’t be are the NBA’s players.
At this point, 90 percent of the league’s players are reportedly vaccinated, according to a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania. While, yes, that is a good number, it’s still not everyone.
We’re already seeing some pretty big names come up in speculation regarding their vaccination status. Kyrie Irving is reportedly not vaccinated yet. The same goes for Andrew Wiggins. And, if that 90 percent holds up, there are certainly more.
That right there is a massive problem for the NBA.
Wait, so Kyrie Irving isn't vaccinated yet?
That’s a matter of speculation as nothing has been confirmed regarding his vaccination status.
Irving has declined to comment on whether he’s received the vaccine, per Fox Sports’ Yaron Weitzman. Nets GM Sean Marks was asked about how that could impact Irving’s playing status this season, if true, and he played it coy.
“Regarding if they could play today, I can’t comment on who could play and so forth. There would obviously be a couple people missing from that picture … I won’t get into who it is, but we feel confident in the following several days before camp everybody would be allowed to participate and so forth.”
And Wiggins is unvaccinated, too?
The last time we checked in on Andrew Wiggins, he told reporters he had no plans to get vaccinated “anytime soon” and would only receive the vaccine if he were forced to do so.
We’re unsure whether that has changed at this point. Wiggins and his agent declined to comment in Weitzman’s story.
That's wild. What could that mean for them?
Wiggins, Irving and other unvaccinated players could likely be met with some pretty harsh restrictions this NBA season due to COVID-19 protocols.
Details from a memo obtained by ESPN in September outlined some of the restrictions facing unvaccinated players and they were pretty stringent. Players will have to undergo testing on both game days and practice days and, in certain instances, might even need to be tested twice per day.
On top of that, they’ll be completely separate from their teammates.
“Unvaccinated NBA players will have lockers as far away as possible from their vaccinated teammates and will have to eat, fly and ride buses in different sections as part of the league’s anticipated COVID-19 health and safety protocols.”
These protocols are still being negotiated with the NBA Players Association but, it’s clear: the NBA is going to whatever lengths it needs to maintain everyone’s safety.
Sheesh. But unvaccinated players will still be able to play, right?
Maybe. As it stands, if they are unvaccinated, Irving and Wiggins might actually miss some home games because of their status.
NBA teams have to abide by the laws of the cities they’re in. Local vaccination requirements in San Francisco and New York prohibit players from playing or practicing in home arenas without proof of vaccination.
That means players from the Nets, Knicks and Warriors who are not vaccinated won’t be able to play in home games unless they get vaccinated.
Wait, they wouldn't actually prevent them from working, would they?
Yes, and it’s reportedly happening as we speak. Andrew Wiggins has been practicing individually at the Chase Center this offseason.
But, per NBC Sports’ Monte Poole, that might come to an end soon.
Sources: Andrew Wiggins has been in the Bay Area this month but is restricted to individual sessions at Chase Center. Under current SF protocols, if he isn't fully vaccinated over next 20 days, those workouts will end.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) September 23, 2021
Wow, they should really get vaccinated to stop this
And that’s the thing about all of this. It feels extremely complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.
All they have to do is get vaccinated and this all goes away. They can play, practice, travel with teammates, eat dinner with teammates. It’s essentially just a normal season.
The NBA players who are already vaccinated understand that. The other 10 percent just need to get it done.
