COVID-19 shook up the world in a manner that few things have in these times. Its impact was felt by people in all walks of life, including the NBA as quite a few players as well as coaches tested positive. In order to avoid the spread of the virus, people were encouraged to take the vaccine but not everyone was keen on getting the shot, which made the vaccine mandate at some locations one of the biggest talking points last season.
The spotlight shone the brightest on New York, as their rule meant Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving couldn’t play in home games. The mandate led to Irving not playing a single home game till March when they were finally relaxed, which allowed him to play at Barclays Center.
A somewhat lesser talked about topic at the time was that unvaccinated players couldn’t enter Canada either to play against the Toronto Raptors. The issue came to the forefront during the first-round series of the playoffs between the Sixers and the Raptors, as Mattise Thybulle was ineligible to enter Canada as he wasn’t fully vaccinated. There were also some questions raised about Jaylen Brown and Al Horford’s vaccination status as they didn’t play in Toronto towards the end of the regular season and it just became a big talking point all of a sudden.
Canada Will Drop Their Vaccine Mandate
With COVID-19 now on the way out, vaccine rules are being relaxed in a lot of places around the world, but the U.S. is not one of them. It led to unvaccinated tennis superstar Novak Djokovic being unable to enter the country to compete at the US Open and there is no news on if the mandate will be lifted anytime soon. Canada, however, seems set to become the latest to lift that requirement for those entering the country and it might be done by the end of the month.
“The federal government plans to drop the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for people who enter Canada by the end of September, the same day it ends random testing of arrivals and makes optional the ArriveCan app.”
That is good news for the players who are still unvaccinated like Kyrie, who continues to be one of the more vocal critics of the vaccine mandate. He took to Twitter recently and called it one of the biggest human rights violations in history in what was one of the crazier statements he has made, which is saying something.
Kyrie just will not stop speaking his mind in this fashion and drama is just going to follow him as a result of it. The Nets better brace themselves for another year full of controversies and off-the-field distractions.
