Unvaccinated NBA Players Who Miss Games Due To Local Mandates Will Go Unpaid
Unvaccinated NBA players who have to sit out of games due to local coronavirus vaccine mandates won’t get paid for any games they miss. The league is applying some pressure to make sure all their players are vaccinated before the season starts.
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The NBA previously put out a memo saying players on teams located in New York City and San Francisco, which both have indoor vaccine mandates, would have to be vaccinated to play in home games, but visiting players are exempt.
“Any player who elects not to comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for games that he misses,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass shared with The Athletic.
The NBA says more than 90% of its players are vaccinated against Covid-19, but prominent unvaccinated players have been thrust into the spotlight over the past few days as teams hold media briefings and prepare for the start of training camp. Warriors small forward Andrew Wiggins is among them
According to reports, the NBA currently has more than 90% of its players vaccinated, but there are still some that seem team “anti-vax”. Warriors small forward Andrew Wiggins revealed that he recently applied for religious exemption to the NBA’s vaccine policy, but he was denied. Also the Laker Allstar, LeBron James spoke out saying, he got vaccinated but won’t urge others to do the same: “Thats not my job”.
“There’s a whole lot of ignorance on the part of players who will not get vaccinated,” said former NBA player Len Elmore. “The NBA is flexing its muscle and has to support mandates for the greater good because that’s really what we’re talking about here.”