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The Golden State Warriors could miss Andrew Wiggins early in the season and beyond, for some unprecedented reason.
The Warriors fear that San Francisco’s vaccination warrants and the NBA’s decision to follow local protocols will lead Wiggins, who refused to be vaccinated, to miss games, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Chronicle reports that there is a belief that Wiggins will be granted a religious exemption from the NBA, but the city government of San Francisco has the power to override that exemption. The San Francisco Department of Public Health told The Chronicle it wouldn’t comment unless Wiggins gets that exemption:
“We are actively addressing the issue of religious exemption requests from immunizations in many industries and will be working with our business and entertainment community on the next steps,” the San Francisco Department of Public Health said in a statement. “We will provide further clarification on this topic. “
The NBA informed teams earlier this month that they will have to follow local vaccine laws. Only two cities in the league had such laws requiring all employees to be vaccinated for large indoor events: San Francisco and New York.
If Wiggins does not get the vaccine, he will not be allowed to participate in Warriors home games. That would be a loss for Golden State, who averaged 18.6 points and 4.9 rebounds from the former No. 1 overall pick while also setting a career-high 47.7 percent on the field (38 percent in depth).
One person who might have thoughts on Wiggins’ decision: his former Minnesota Timberwolves teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, who has lost more than half a dozen family members to COVID-19, including his mother and publicly denounced people who refuse to get vaccinated.
The nets could also be missing some players
The Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks are the only other NBA teams affected by local vaccination mandates when it comes to players.
Nets general manager Sean Marks told reporters on Tuesday that “a few” players wouldn’t be able to play for the team if they had a game that day due to New York City’s vaccination mandate. However, he also said he expects the situation to be resolved by the start of the season. The Warriors could have the same confidence in Wiggins.
Outside of the players, who do not have a league-wide vaccination mandate, pretty much everyone on an NBA field this season will be vaccinated. The NBA has demanded that all coaches, front desk and medical staff, security, team communication staff, scorer’s table staff and officials get vaccinated.
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