Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Golden State Warriors is guarded by Aaron Gordon #50 and Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center on April 12, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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UPDATED 12:48 PM PT – Saturday, September 25, 2021
From the MLB to the NFL to the NBA, all players have assumed they were given the choice to get vaccinated. On Friday however, a conflict came to light when the NBA’s Golden State Warriors Player Andrew Wiggins request for religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine was denied as he was forbidden to play in the team’s home arena.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health ruled despite a religious or medical exemption, those unvaccinated could not enter the Chase Center Facility. The NBA said they could not overrule the city’s vaccination mandate for individuals to enter the Chase Arena, which has resulted in Wiggins ineligibility to play in home games for the Golden State Warriors until he could meet the city’s requirements.
Despite the ruling, his decision to abstain from the vaccination has remained.
“”I don’t really see myself getting it anytime soon unless I’m forced to somehow,” he stated. “Other than that, I’m good.”
The NBA says it has reviewed and denied Andrew Wiggins’ request for an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds. pic.twitter.com/BUgkM2MmTF
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 24, 2021
Over in the National Football League, players have been forced to get the vaccine just to be permitted to hang out with teammates outside of practice time due to the severley strict guidelines. One player on the Las Vegas Raiders, Denzel Perryman, had no intention of getting the vaccine until he became fed up from the restrictions.
“Like I said though, when you’re not vaccinated, there’s a lot of things you can’t do. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, you can’t go home. You have to come back here on your off day to test,” he explained. “On a bye week, I’d have to be here every day and test and not go somewhere when I want to go out. It’s those little things like that that play a role.”
In the major leagues, baseball teams could see the field without key members as the MLB recently informed clubs if players were participating in the Arizona fall league, they must be vaccinated. The MLB has required all non-player personnel to be fully vaccinated, but this has been the first mandate for players at the start of post-season play.
One high ranking executive for the Arizona Diamondbacks said this could be the precursor for next season.
