Warriors' Nemanja Bjelica told Andrew Wiggins to get vaccinated after an embarrassing press conference
The NBA is nearing its first full season with safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 widely available, and despite the league’s high vaccination rate (about 90 percent), a number of the holdouts are among the league’s biggest stars.
Kyrie Irving and Bradley Beal remain unvaccinated. Beal spent a portion of his Monday media day session repeating vaccine misinformation and falsely suggesting that breakthrough cases — something that is exists with any vaccine — showed why he didn’t need to get vaccinated himself. Irving, who may miss home games due to his status, avoided discussing vaccine-related questions during a video conference.
And then, there was Andrew Wiggins.
The Golden State Warriors swingman is currently set to miss home games after his request for a religious exemption to San Francisco’s vaccination mandate for indoor events was denied. While Wiggins was an in-person participant in Warriors media day, he spent most of his session framing his refusal to be vaccinated as a “personal belief” rather than a brazen disregard for public health. It was embarrassing.
Andrew Wiggins says his back against the wall pic.twitter.com/uSe0VT1aQe
— Alex. (@dubs4o8) September 27, 2021
— follow @dubs4o8 (@quickclipscfb1) September 27, 2021
Wiggins said that he wanted to keep his vaccination status private, but it won’t be much of a mystery when he’s not allowed to even enter the Chase Center.
That wasn’t all. In the moments after Wiggins’ press conference, his own teammate had a message for him.
According to San Jose Mercury News columnist Dieter Kurtenbach, Warriors big man Nemanja Bjelica told Wiggins to “get the shot” as he saw Wiggins in the hallway. Wiggins apparently replied that it was a “tough crowd” in there.
Bjelica to Wiggins in the hallway:
“Get the shot."
Wiggins: Tough crowd in there, man.
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dieter) September 27, 2021
If Wiggins remains unvaccinated, he’d potentially forfeit upwards of $15 million. That’s a lot of money to lose because you don’t want to take the steps necessary to fight a devastating pandemic. But even from a basketball standpoint, this refusal makes it impossible for the Warriors to rely on Wiggins as a player and teammate.
It’s about time Wiggins realizes that.