One of the biggest questions heading into the 2021-22 NBA season was if the league would require players to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and on Tuesday we got our answer. The league will not require vaccinations for players, according to Baxter Holmes and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
However; NBA referees and many members of team personnel will have to be vaccinated for COVID-19 during the 2021-22 NBA season.
The league and the players union — the NBPA — are reportedly still in talks regarding COVID-19 protocols for the season, but the NBPA is not willing to entertain the idea of a vaccine mandate for players. A mandate is a “non-starter.”
Unfortunately, the anti-American sellouts at the NBA found a loophole to require players on 3 teams to be fully vaccinated. They informed teams earlier this month that because of new Covid-19 laws in New York City and San Francisco, players on the New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Golden State Warriors will be forced to take ‘the shot.’ *ba-da-bap*
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.
A preliminary memo that was obtained in early September outlines the NBA’s plans to take care of the pesky unvaccinated players by imposing a set of strict Covid-19 protocols for the upcoming season.
If the NBA can’t force players to take the jab, they will make their life hell and try to get them ostracized by their peers.
The protocols include having their locker isolated far away from other teammates and requiring that players eat in ‘different sections’ at a safe distance. Unvaccinated players will also have to be seated away from other people in a designated area when they are riding the team bus or flying.
The new measures are still being finalized in talks with the NBPA and are likely to be put in place since the players will not budge on a full vaccine requirement.
The NBPA’s fight might not last long though. Joe Biden recently imposed a sweeping federal vaccine mandate that requires all federal workers and workers of companies with 100 or more employees to be fully vaccinated. The tyrannical order is set to impact an estimated 100 million Americans, most likely including some of these holdout players.
Sources: The Gateway Pundit, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports, ESPN