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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been outspoken in his advocacy for the COVID-19 vaccine, and he has a message for the 5% of NBA players who still haven’t received it.
“Lives are at stake. It’s important here. People are dying,” Abdul-Jabbar told Yahoo Sports. “The ignorance that has been perpetrated and the misinformation that has spread everywhere has prevented people from understanding what is going on.
“People who say they haven’t finished doing the research yet, haven’t really done any research.”
This week, as NBA training camps opened for the 2021-22 season, a number of players have refused to disclose their vaccination status or have publicly stated that they do not plan to be vaccinated.
Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets and Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors are the most prominent names as their local markets (New York and San Francisco, respectively) have mandates in place that would exclude unvaccinated players from playing at home games. The NBA said this week that players who miss games due to local vaccine warrants will see their wages cut.
“They prevented us from understanding what they are saying. What is important here? Are people dying or the fact that they want to be deprived of the vaccine?” Abdul-Jabbar told Yahoo Sports.
“… It’s not just a game they play. It’s important, and people need to understand what’s going on here. The information you need isn’t that hard to come by. And you’ll find that vaccines are safe and they work That’s all you need to know Save your life, don’t pass it on to someone in your family that you love and care for and you have to live with the fact that you helped pass it on to that person. We don’t want that to happen. So let’s go. “
The health and safety protocols proposed by the NBA for the coming season would also make it harder for unvaccinated players, setting limits on where they can go and keeping them away from vaccinated teammates in all settings except the field.
Abdul-Jabbar was part of a public service announcement released by the league in January encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
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