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The NBA as a league will not mandate players to get vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus for the 2021-22 season. Be that as it may, the players of teams that reside in markets that have mandated the vaccine must get the shot to be eligible to play in home games. Those markets include New York and San Francisco which directly affects the players of the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets.
With NBA training camps slated to officially open next week, time is ticking for the unvaccinated players in those markets to get the shot. Refusing to get vaccinated would mean volunteering to sit out for at least 41 of their team’s 82 games. That number would increase to 44 for Nets and Knicks players who play on each other’s home floor twice this season. The Nets and Knicks also have one road game each against the Warriors.
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Kyrie Irving Is One of NBA’s Unvaccinated Players
While it is not a guarantee, a player missing out on such a large number of games could have a direct effect on a team’s playoff seeding. This ultimately ties into how difficult their path is to a title. The Nets are heavily favored to win it all this year, but that could soon change as their All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving has yet to be vaccinated according to Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports.
“One player who could be affected is Nets guard Kyrie Irving. According to multiple league sources, Irving has yet to receive a vaccine shot,” Weitzman writes.
“Both the Nets and a spokeswoman for Irving declined to comment on the record about Irving’s vaccination status.”
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Sean Marks Confirms Some Nets Players Are Unvaccinated
While Irving’s vaccination status has yet to be officially confirmed, Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a press conference earlier this week that the number of vaccinated Nets players is high but not at 100%. He remains hopeful that by the start of the season all of his players will be fully vaccinated.
“Regarding if they could play today, I can’t comment on who could play and so forth. There would obviously be a couple of people missing from that picture, I won’t get into who it is, but we feel confident in the following several days before camp everybody would be allowed to participate and so forth,” Marks said during a recent press conference per Fox Sports.
“I think we all understand what’s at stake. We’ve had very candid conversations. … We don’t see whether it’s a citywide mandate, or it’s the league mandate to follow, being any sort of hindrance to us being able to put out a team.”
The potential of losing Irving for more than half the year may not seem like a big deal to some, knowing that Durant and Harden could still be available. But by the numbers, it matters a lot. Last season the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference were separated by just three games while the top four seeds in the Western Conference were separated by just five games.
It is also worth noting that Kyrie is no stranger to missing games for non-injury-related reasons. He had no major injuries during the regular season last year but played just 54 out of 72 games. Stay tuned to see how this story unfolds.
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