The NBA is not playing around when it comes to getting players vaccinated.
The NBA announced on Wednesday that it will withhold payment from unvaccinated players who miss games due to local vaccine mandates. While the NBA has not mandated the vaccine itself, cities that require the vaccine to enter public spaces will not allow unvaccinated players inside the basketball court.
“Any player who elects not to comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for games that he misses,” Mike Bass, the NBA’s executive vice president of communications, told media outlets in a statement on Wednesday.
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Under the NBA’s new rule, unvaccinated players who play for a team from a city that has a vaccine mandate would be forced to miss all home games. These teams include the Brooklyn Nets, the Chicago Bulls, and the Golden State Warriors.
The NBA reports that about 90% of its players are vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Yahoo Sports. However, some players have not clarified whether they have received the vaccine, with both the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving and the Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins saying they wish to keep their vaccination status private.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the U.S. had over 770,000 cases of the coronavirus in the last seven days. The site also reports that 64.4% of U.S. residents have received their first shot of the vaccine, with 55.8% fully vaccinated.
The NBA did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
