Andrew Wiggins was in the news for all the wrong reasons. He apparently was hesitant to get a vaccine shot, and it was ultimately putting many around him at risk. Now, the 26-year-old is finally vaccinated and will be able to play for the Golden State Warriors when the new season begins.
But the reason for Wiggins’ sudden change of heart was not due to any good reason. In fact, simply put, he did it to not get kicked out of the league. He openly spoke about wanting to stay in the league and earn as much money as possible during his career.
NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar called out Wiggins for his actions. Jabbar wrote about it in his Substack newsletter.
“He’s not wrong in being concerned about generational wealth because the U.S. has historically made it more difficult for Black families to accrue wealth that they can pass along to other generations to give them some of the advantages that white people have… Where Wiggins is wrong is in prioritizing his family’s generational wealth, which at his salary of about $29.54 million a year, is in no real danger. That excuse doesn’t really hold up. Especially when he’s clearly choosing money for him and his family over the health and lives of other families not as fortunate as him.”
Kareem continued, “As I’ve asked before, what specific right is he fighting for? The right to do whatever you want with your body doesn’t exist in pretty much any civilized society because we recognize that those who behave recklessly and irresponsibly can harm others. You do own your body—unless a deadly virus turns that body into a plague delivery system that can kill hundreds of thousands. Today, while Andrew Wiggins was gathering his generational wealth, 2,036 people died of COVID-19 and 71,905 new cases were confirmed. Of these deaths and new cases, 97 percent of them were unvaccinated. Tomorrow and the day after and the day after, more will die and others will face long-term health problems. He could help prevent that. He chose to use his body not to.”
Kareem pointed out a pretty good point. After all, being an NBA player comes with a lot of responsibility. Athletes have a great influence on people.
If they make a poor decision, it could lead to much more catastrophic effects down the line. Kareem is not afraid to call out anyone on this matter as he even wrote about LeBron James’ stance on the COVID-19 vaccination was wrong.
So, as Kareem graciously concluded, Wiggins is still gathering generational wealth, while more and more people are suffering from the COVID-19 virus. Hopefully, reading Kareem’s newsletter will help Wiggins in changing his perspective about the whole situation.
