Golden State Warriors player Andrew Wiggins receives COVID-19 vaccine after NBA denied religious exemption
Golden State Warriors player Andrew Wiggins has received the COVID-19 vaccine, his coach Steve Kerr said Sunday. Wiggins had applied for a religious exemption, but the NBA said it "reviewed and denied" the request last month.
With more than a week away to the start of the NBA season, Wiggins was among notable NBA players who voiced their resistance to the vaccine. He told NBC Sports in March that he would not get the shot unless he was "forced to." At the team's media day last week, he said he'd continue to stand by his beliefs when it comes to not getting the vaccine.
"Back is definitely against the wall, but I'm just going to keep fighting for what I believe," Wiggins said. "I'm going to keep fighting for what I believe is right. What's right to one person isn't right to the other and vice versa."
However, Kerr told reporters Wiggins had decided to receive the vaccine and will be allowed to play home games.
"Andrew got vaccinated," Kerr said. "He just told me today that he was fine with us acknowledging it and that will be the end of it. So, I'm not going to answer any questions beyond that."
It comes as the league issued new guidelines for unvaccinated players. NBA arenas for the Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks are under local mandates requiring entertainment venues to only allow vaccinated people to enter. In those three arenas, unvaccinated players without proof of at least one vaccination shot would be barred from competition. Those players who miss games because they're unvaccinated will also lose their paychecks, the NBA said.
The NBA reached a 95% vaccination threshold of its players since the opening of training camp, according to ESPN. Near the start of training camps, the NBA had approximately 90% of its players vaccinated.