{"id":868055,"date":"2021-10-11T14:14:11","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=868055"},"modified":"2021-10-11T14:14:15","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:14:15","slug":"five-nba-players-who-spoke-up-about-leagues-vaccine-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/five-nba-players-who-spoke-up-about-leagues-vaccine-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Five NBA Players Who Spoke Up About League\u2019s Vaccine Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffive-nba-players-who-spoke-up-about-leagues-vaccine-pressure%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=868055&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/NBA-Stars-Defying-the-Vaccine-Mandate-16x9-copy-scaled-1.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>With the start of the NBA season fast approaching, players and fans alike are preparing for a year in which arenas are expected to once again be full, and yet the NBA experienced an unexpected controversy as players reported to training camps.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While the league is not mandating that players receive the COVID vaccine, roughly 95% of NBA players are vaccinated, and the league is doing everything it can to push the other 5% towards vaccination. In response, multiple players \u2014 including some stars \u2014 pushed back when asked about the COVID vaccine.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A few players came out as either unvaccinated or unwilling to provide their status, while others outwardly supported and defended teammates and players around the league who are hesitant to receive the shot.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Let\u2019s take a look at five NBA players who spoke their minds when pressed by reporters on vaccine statuses around the league.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Beal is a superstar, the second leading scorer of the 2020-2021 NBA season, and apparently not one to take things lying down.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Beal had a fascinating exchange with reporters after announcing that he has contracted COVID in the past and is unvaccinated.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s a personal choice between everybody. 100%. I understand both sides of it,\u201d Beal <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBACrouse\/status\/1442564663103737863?s=20\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cI understand that there is a percentage of people who can get very sick. I didn\u2019t get sick. I didn\u2019t get sick at all. I lost my smell but that was it for me. Everybody is going to react different. Everybody is going to take it differently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI mean, some people have bad reactions to the vaccine. Nobody likes to talk about that. What happens if one of our players gets the vaccine and they can\u2019t play after that? Or they have complications after that? Because there are cases like that. But I feel like we don\u2019t talk about those as heavily because they\u2019re so minute, maybe? But they are existent,\u201d Beal added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Beal went on to discuss the vaccine, questioning why there are those that still test positive for COVID even after being vaccinated.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cEvery player, every person in this world is going to make their own decision for themselves,\u201d Beal <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AllifKarim\/status\/1442563256208424963?s=20\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cI would like an explanation to people with the vaccines \u2026 \u2018why are they still getting COVID?\u2019 If that\u2019s something that we are supposed to highly be protected from. It\u2019s funny that \u2026 \u2018oh it reduces your chances of going to the hospital.\u2019 It doesn\u2019t eliminate anybody from getting COVID. Right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIs everybody here vaxxed?\u201d Beal asked the media in the room. \u201cI would assume, right? So you all can still get COVID, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re less likely to die or go to the hospital,\u201d a reporter in the crowd responded.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cOk. But you can still get COVID, and you can still pass it along with the vax. Right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Beal does not play in a city that requires players to be vaccinated in order to play indoors.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Andrew Wiggins, <\/b><b>Golden State Warriors<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>For Wiggins, the decision on whether to take the shot or not has a real-life impact.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He plays in San Francisco, a city which currently<\/span><span>&nbsp;does not permit an unvaccinated professional athlete to play indoors.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At his media day appearance, Wiggins grew testy with reporters who repeatedly asked him about his decision to remain unvaccinated and the reasoning behind it.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s none of your business is what it comes down to,\u201d Wiggins <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JDumasReports\/status\/1442582057859706882?s=20\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> on Monday when asked about his reasoning behind not getting the shot. \u201cI don\u2019t ask you guys what you think is right or wrong. We\u2019re different people \u2026 Who are you guys where I have to explain what I believe? Or what\u2019s right or what\u2019s wrong in my mind. We\u2019re two totally different people. What you think is not what I think. What I think is not what you think.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shortly after Wiggins\u2019 exchange with the media, the NBA announced that any player who misses a game due to not being vaccinated will not be paid for the missed game.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Warriors have 41 games at the Chase Center in San Francisco for the 2021-2022 season, meaning Wiggins potentially would essentially have forfeited half of his game checks if he remained unvaccinated.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The potential loss of money and not playing basketball during the upcoming season seemed to change Wiggins mind, as it was announced last week that he is now vaccinated and eligible to play in Warriors home games.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe only options were to get vaccinated or not play in the NBA,\u201d Wiggins said Monday. \u201cIt was a tough decision. Hopefully, it works out in the long run and in 10 years I\u2019m still healthy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThey didn\u2019t make the rule,\u201d Wiggins <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/it-was-a-tough-decision-andrew-wiggins-discusses-getting-covid-vaccine\">said<\/a> when asked if he was upset with the organization. \u201cBut I guess to do certain stuff, to work, I guess you don\u2019t own your body. That\u2019s what it comes down to. If you want to work in society today, then I guess they made the rules of what goes in your body and what you do. Hopefully, there\u2019s a lot of people out there that are stronger than me and keep fighting, stand for what they believe, and hopefully, it works out for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Green is one of the unquestioned leaders of the Warriors and a three-time champion. Though he is vaccinated, the three-time all-star defended his teammates decision, saying that it wasn\u2019t his place to tell anyone what to put in their bodies.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThat would be like me telling him, \u2018Yo, your wife is going into labor. How dare you leave this team and not go tend to your wife?\u2019\u201d Green said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that\u2019s personal to him. That\u2019s something that\u2019s health-related. That\u2019s something that\u2019s personal to his family. This is no different. We\u2019re dealing with something that to me feels like has turned into a political war when you\u2019re talking about vaccinated [people] and non-vaccinated [people]. I think it\u2019s become very political.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Green said that it\u2019s every individuals choice whether or not to get the vaccine, questioning why society is pushing the vaccine so hard.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cFor someone who\u2019s not extremely into politics, when you make something so political \u2014 not everyone is into politics \u2014 then you can also turn those people off,\u201d Green continued. \u201cThere is something to be said for people concerns about something that\u2019s being pressed so hard. Like \u2018why are you pressing this so hard?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYou say we live in the land of the free. Well, you\u2019re not giving anyone freedom because you\u2019re making people do something essentially,\u201d Green said later. \u201cWithout necessarily making them, you\u2019re making them do something. That goes against everything that America stands for, or supposedly stands for.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets&nbsp;<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Irving is in a similar situation to Wiggins, but so far, it does not appear that he\u2019s vaccinated.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>New York will require professional athletes to show proof of at least one dose of the vaccine to play indoors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Irving was not present at Brooklyn\u2019s facility due to New York\u2019s vaccine policy.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThat\u2019s on Kyrie and that\u2019s his personal decision. What he does is not on us to speculate what may happen,\u201d Nets star Kevin Durant <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/32291549\/sources-brooklyn-nets-star-kyrie-irving-miss-team-media-day-due-nyc-covid-19-proof-vaccine-requirement\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cWe trust in Kyrie, and I expect us to have our whole team at some point.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Irving instead performed his media obligations via video, and didn\u2019t specify whether or not he was vaccinated, instead asking for privacy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYou gotta make sure you respect the privacy,\u201d Irving <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/09\/27\/kyrie-irving-downplays-vaccine-drama-at-nets-media-day\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cI don\u2019t want to create any more drama, that\u2019s not what I\u2019m here for. I\u2019m going continue to inspire and lead in the right way. Don\u2019t say I never did anything for y\u2019all. I hope y\u2019all enjoyed that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Jonathan Isaac, Orlando Magic<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>This is not the first time Isaac has been in the news for something other than his basketball talent.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During the 2020 NBA season in Orlando, Florida \u2014 after the George Floyd riots \u2014 NBA players knelt during the national anthem to protest what they viewed as racism and police brutality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Isaac chose not to kneel for the anthem.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Now, Isaac is drawing attention for his decision to remain unvaccinated. At his team\u2019s media day presser, Isaac explained his reasoning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019ve had COVID in the past,\u201d Isaac <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OfficialTRHL\/status\/1442852718473842698?s=20\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cOur understanding of antibodies, of natural immunity, has changed a great deal from the onset of the pandemic. And it\u2019s still evolving. I understand that the vaccine would help if you catch COVID and you\u2019d be able to have less symptoms from contracting it. But with me having COVID in the past and having antibodies, with my current age group and physical fitness level, it\u2019s not necessarily a fear of mine. Taking the vaccine would decrease my chances of having a severe reaction, but it does open me up to albeit rare chance but the possibility of having an adverse reaction to the vaccine itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI don\u2019t believe that being unvaccinated means being infected or being vaccinated means being uninfected. You can still catch COVID with or without the vaccine. I would say, the craziness of it all, in terms of not being able to say that it should be everybody\u2019s fair choice without being demeaned or talked crazy to, doesn\u2019t make one comfortable to do what said person is telling them to do. I would say that\u2019s a couple of the reasons why I\u2019m hesitant at this time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>As the face of the league, James had yet to announce his vaccination status before Lakers media day. When asked in May if he was vaccinated, James declined to answer.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We got our answer last week, with James <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/lebron-james-says-hes-vaccinated-refuses-to-tell-others-what-to-do-with-their-bodies\">saying<\/a>, \u201cI know that I was very [skeptical] about it all, but after doing my research, and things of that nature, I felt like it was best suited for not only me, but for my family and for my friends, and that\u2019s why I decided to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>James was pressed by a reporter if the \u201cissue was important enough\u201d for someone with his platform to speak out, with James saying that it wasn\u2019t his place to tell others what to do.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re talking about individual\u2019s bodies,\u201d James said on Tuesday when elaborating on his decision. \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about something that\u2019s political or racism or police brutality or things of that nature. We\u2019re talking about people\u2019s bodies and well-being. So I don\u2019t feel like for me personally that I should get involved in what other people should do for their bodies and their livelihoods.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to <\/i><i>sports@dailywire.com<\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the start of the NBA season fast approaching, players and fans alike are preparing for a year in which arenas are expected to once again be full, and yet &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-868055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}