Sports Health: NBA players won't be required to get COVID-19 vaccination

[playahaitian]

Sources: NBA players won't be required to get COVID-19 vaccination

NBA players will not be mandated to get vaccinated against COVID-19, league sources tell ESPN.

The NBA and NBPA continue to negotiate aspects of COVID-related protocols and procedures for the upcoming 2021-22 campaign, but the NBPA has refused to budge on its demand that players not be required to take the vaccine, sources say, and any proposal that mandates vaccination remains a "non-starter."



NBA referees and most NBA staff are mandated to be vaccinated.
The NBA and NBPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Roughly 85% of players are vaccinated, a league spokesman recently said, and, in a preliminary memo obtained by ESPN in early September, the league outlined a set of strict protocols for unvaccinated players.

Such protocols include having lockers far from vaccinated teammates and having to eat, fly and ride buses in different sections. These protocols are not final and are still subject to talks with the NBPA.

The NBA informed teams in early September that new laws in both New York and San Francisco regarding vaccine requirements will be enforced for members of the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors -- including for their teams' players -- unless there is an approved medical or religious exemption, according to a memo obtained by ESPN.

In late August, the NBA informed teams that personnel under team control who worked within 15 feet of players or officials during games would be required to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1, according to a memo obtained by ESPN.

Within the last week, President Joe Biden announced a sweeping set of vaccine mandates that could impact as many as 100 million Americans.

Sources: NBA players won't have to get vaccine

The COVID-19 vaccine won't be required for NBA players this season, sources tell ESPN's Baxter Holmes and Adrian Wojnarowski.

www.espn.com

 

[SPECTRE1]

This is product endorsement/public health that should be paid by the government or drug company. Releasing players is anti capitalist.

All these needles injecting people, is just activating these drug addicts. They see a needle in a different light than me. I live in a hotbed of drug activity, many of them seek me out in desperation. I want nothing to do with their failed life.

These positive affirmations such as not wearing a mask and being able to work after getting their shot is making things worse.



These public health messages should be in a clinical setting with a doctor.

 

[DC_Dude]

 

[catdaddy]

Yeah but you can’t play you don’t get paid.

 

[850credit]

Jimmy Butler should have ended Wiggins when he had the chance

 

[playahaitian]

Kyrie unable to practice in NY due to vax status

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving did not practice with the team Tuesday as the point guard is unable to practice or play in New York due to the city's COVID-19 vaccination protocols.

www.espn.com

Kyrie Irving unable to practice with Nets in Brooklyn due to New York's COVID-19 vaccination protocols



Kyrie Irving did not practice with the Brooklyn Nets in Brooklyn on Tuesday as the point guard is unable to practice or play in New York under the city's COVID-19 vaccination protocols.

After practicing with the team last week at training camp in San Diego, Irving did not attend the team's first practice back in Brooklyn. Players in the New York market must have at least one vaccination shot to practice or play in New York.


"No further update," Nets coach Steve Nash told reporters after practice about Irving's status for home practices and games. "We support him. We are here for him. Things change. When there's a resolution, we're here for him."

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed to a reduction in pay of 1/91.6 of a player's salary for each game an unvaccinated player misses because of local COVID-19 vaccine mandates, ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks reported. The Nets play their next preseason game Friday against Milwaukee in Brooklyn.

"I'm not really worried about anything," Nash said when asked about not having his starting point guard for practice in Brooklyn. "We're just trying to work every day. We came in today and had a great practice and we'll do the same tomorrow, and that's kind of where I leave it."
Nash was asked whether there has been any consideration of moving the team's practices outside of New York City to have Irving be able to participate.

"No, this is our home, this is where we're going to practice and we have almost a whole group," Nash said. "So that's a positive, and we're just working at getting better every day and focusing on the things we can control."

Irving -- who would lose roughly $380,000 per game if he is unable to participate in home games -- was not able to attend the team's media day in Brooklyn on Sept. 27. But he did talk to reporters remotely and asked for privacy regarding his decision.

"I know that I'll be there every day no matter what and just be present for my teammates as one of the leaders on the team and be there for my growing tribe off the court," Irving said during that media day remote session. "I know the focus has to be at an all-time high, no distractions. This is the last thing I wanted to create, was more distractions and more hoopla and more drama around this. I'm doing my best to maintain this with good intentions and a good heart."