The NBA announced on Wednesday that players who have not been inoculated against Covid-19 will not receive payment for any missed games, potentially resulting in a substantial financial setback to their earnings.
At the moment, the NBA does not mandate vaccination for its players, although they do function under stricter regulations. Nevertheless, certain teams have encountered issues due to local laws that prohibit unvaccinated individuals from entering specific areas, including indoor sports arenas. New York and San Francisco are among the cities that have enacted such regulations, preventing unvaccinated players from the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors from participating in home games.
According to reports from the NBA, approximately 90% of athletes in the league are fully immunized, a figure that significantly exceeds that of the general population in the United States. However, some prominent players have chosen not to reveal their immunization status, such as Kyrie Irving from Brooklyn and Andrew Wiggins from Golden State. Irving stated, “I prefer to maintain privacy on this matter and address it internally with my team moving forward with a plan.”
The day before the announcement, LeBron James mentioned that he initially harbored doubts about getting vaccinated but eventually concluded that it was “the appropriate course of action.”
