27-year-old Andrew Wiggins just had the best season of his career. But if you listened to his chat with Mark Carman on Tuesday, you’d never know it.
During the height of the COVID-19 crisis, Wiggs was famously one of the few players who resisted the vaccine. He tried to get around it for weeks, even applying for a religious exemption that was quickly denied by the NBA office.
He eventually folded and got the vaccine just before the start of the season. He was able to play the whole season and ended it with a championship.
In his interview with Carman, however, he shockingly revealed how much he still hates having been forced to take the vax and that a part of him still wishes he never got it.
“I still wish I didn’t get it, to be honest with you, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do,” he said. “I did it, and I was an All-Star this year and champion, so that was the good part, just not missing out on the year, the best year of my career. But for my body, I just don’t like putting all that stuff in my body, so I didn’t like that and I didn’t like that it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t like that it was either get this or don’t play.”
Getting vaccinated to win a championship is an easy trade in most people’s minds. For Wiggins, he still resents that battle with the NBA and has not backed down from his stance despite all the success he has enjoyed on the court this past season.
While he may not be happy about it, there is no denying that it was the best decision he could have made. For comparison, just look at the mess Kyrie Irving created when he made the choice that Wiggs almost did.
