According to a new report by Rolling Stone, the NBA is running out of patience with the remaining 10 percent of active players that are unvaccinated.
According to a new report by Rolling Stone, the NBA is running out of patience with the remaining 10 percent of active players that are unvaccinated.
Commissioner Adam Silver had previously announced that the association would not implement a vaccine mandate for the 2021-22 season, but according Rolling Stone, league shot-callers are concerned that the remaining unvaccinated players are basing their decision on "conspiracy theories."
Kyrie Irving, All-Star of the Brooklyn Nets, who serves as a vice president on the executive committee of the players’ union, was criticized by Rolling Stone for following a "conspiracy theorist" on social media and for questioning the efficacy of the vaccine.
The NBA is concerned that Irving and other players, such as the Orlando Magic's Jonathan Isaac, will opt out of games in cities where the vaccine is required for entry to game venues, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York.
Rolling Stone labeled Irving and Isaac "anti vaxxers" and criticized Isaac for "…being that guy who stood up with his jersey on during the national anthem in the NBA bubble, while every other player on the court took a knee in a t-shirt declaring BLACK LIVES MATTER, amid a global reckoning on race and police killings."
Isaac cited his Christian faith in his decision-making process for declining to get the jab.
He was quoted by Rolling Stone as saying, "You can play on the same court. We can touch the same ball. We can bump chests. We can do all those things on the court. And then when it comes to being on the bus, we have to be in different parts of the bus? To me, it doesn’t seem logically consistent. If you are vaccinated, in other places you still have to wear the mask regardless. It’s like, 'OK, then what is the mask necessarily for?' And if Kyrie says that from his position of his executive power in the NBPA, then kudos to him."
According to the outlet, a religious-exemption request "from a vaccine-denying player in San Francisco" was denied this weekend, "lighting a powder keg on a combustible mix of race, religion, class and clubbing in a time of Covid, aimed at some of the most influential role models in America."
Rolling Stone cited Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics who they described as a "…devout Muslim and outspoken liberal" who they claimed sensed "…a creep of the religious right upon his workplace…"
Though there is still no mandate, team general managers remain confident they can get the players vaccinated by opening night, according to the outlet which claimed 90 percent of the players are vaccinated. However, all court side players and personnel will be required to wear masks on arena benches and around practice facilities.
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