Andrew Wiggins may not be able to play in home games for the Warriors as a result of his vaccination status. San Francisco has a vaccine mandate in place that will not allow unvaccinated players to suit up in their home arenas barring an exemption for medical or religious reasons.
Wiggins was denied a religious exemption for the vaccine. Now, he will either have to get the vaccine or risk missing at least half the season — and half his pay.
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Whatever Wiggins chooses won’t bother Draymond Green. The long-time member of the Warriors was asked about Wiggins’ status and said that he wouldn’t try to influence Wiggins’ choice about the vaccine.
“I’m not in any position to tell him what he should or should not be doing,” Green said, per ESPN. “And as a leader of his team, I’m not going to go to him and say, ‘Hey man, we really need … .’ No, you do what you feel.
“I’m not going to go and ask him did he get a polio vaccine? So why would I go ask him if he got a COVID vaccine?” Green continued. “It’s not my place or my business on whether he gets vaccinated or not — it’s your own personal choice at the end of the day what you do with your body. It’s not my place to tell him what he should or shouldn’t do with his. Because he’s not going to come tell me what I should do with my body.”
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Green lamented that vaccination status has “turned into a political war.” He also believes that everyone should have the freedom to choose whether to take the vaccine.
“I think you have to honor people’s feelings and their own personal beliefs. And I think that’s been lost when it comes to vaccinated and non-vaccinated,” Green said. “You say we live in the land of the free — well, you’re not giving anyone freedom because you’re making people do something essentially without making them, you’re making them do something. And that goes against everything America stands for, supposedly stands for.”
So, if Warriors leadership does make an effort to convince Wiggins, a starter, to get vaccinated, Green won’t be a part of the plan.
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Wiggins represents what is a shrinking minority of NBA players at this time. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that 95 percent of the league’s players have received at least one dose of the vaccine. It had been roughly 90 percent at the start of training camp.
ESPN Sources: The NBA has reached a 95 percent vaccination threshold of its players, reflecting a steady rise since the opening of training camps. That uptick includes players who’ve received at least their first shot.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 30, 2021
Despite that, Wiggins doesn’t plan to get the vaccine.
“It’s not uncomfortable. I’m confident in my beliefs, what I think is right, and what I think is wrong,” Wiggins said at Golden State’s media day. “I’m just gonna keep doing what I believe, whether it’s one thing or another, just gonna keep doing it.”
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