Warriors' Andrew Wiggins Refuses Vaccination, Could Miss Home Games
The NBA decided not to impose a vaccine mandate on its players, but local guidelines imposed by cities may still require players to get vaccinated in order to attend games.
In the case of Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, a player who has voiced his concerns about the vaccination, his home city of Oakland has implemented a mandatory proof of vaccination rule in order to enter indoor establishments — which also includes sporting venues. Wiggins is now at risk of missing home games at Oracle Arena.
Wiggins has hesitated to get vaccinated due to insufficient long-term data. According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, the team has gone to great lengths to convince Wiggins to get vaccinated. They have also filed a potential religious exemption for him with the city so that he can forego inoculation.
"We are actively addressing the matter of requests for religious exemption from vaccinations across many industries and will work with our business and entertainment community on next steps," announced the SF Department of Public Health, related to Wiggins. "We will provide further clarification on this topic."
Nets General Manger Sean Marks made comments on Tuesday regarding the possibility that certain Brooklyn players will not be allowed at Barclays due to the Key To NYC vaccine rule. "Regarding if they could play today, I can't comment on who could play and so forth," admitted the GM. "There would obviously be a couple people missing from that picture."
Last season, Wiggins averaged 18.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Warriors.