Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the way people look at the world has changed. Most have been divided into two major groups. With one being who are getting the vaccines and following the protocols, while others are simply refusing to believe that the vaccine is actually a good thing.
Similar has been the case in terms of athletes who are playing for NBA teams. We saw the turmoil created by Kyrie Irving and his stance on staying unvaccinated. At the end of the day, he has been allowed to play basketball games wherever the rules allow him to do so.
On that note, even the players that have retired from the league are making headlines for their comments on the coronavirus vaccine. Utah Jazz legend John Stockton is among them.
When Stockton was in the league, he mesmerized fans with his amazing passes, but off the court, his comments were definitely not being welcomed by fans. Recently, the 59-year-old made some shocking claims about the COVID-19 vaccines.
Via Spokesman:
“I think it’s highly recorded now, there’s 150 I believe now, it’s over 100 professional athletes dead – professional athletes – the prime of their life, dropping dead that are vaccinated, right on the pitch, right on the field, right on the court.”
This was a wild claim by the former Utah Jazz point guard. As a result, his theory about athletes losing their life due to the COVID-19 vaccines was debunked by a research report published by PolitiFact.
Following these absurd comments by the NBA legend, Gonzaga University suspended Stockton’s season tickets. The official statement by the university read:
“Gonzaga University continues to work hard to implement and enforce the health and safety protocols mandated by the State and by University policy, including reinforcing the indoor masking requirement. Attendees at basketball games are required to wear face masks at all times.”
The decision was taken in light of the fact that Stockton has refused to accept the University’s mandatory rule of wearing masks at all times for people attending basketball games. Stockton gave a statement after getting his tickets suspended as well.
“Basically, it came down to, they were asking me to wear a mask to the games and being a public figure, someone a little bit more visible, I stuck out in the crowd a little bit. And therefore they received complaints and felt like from whatever the higher-ups – those weren’t discussed, but from whatever it was higher up – they were going to have to either ask me to wear a mask or they were going to suspend my tickets.
This decision taken by Gonzaga has become a primary example of how to take actions against personnel disagreeing to accept the COVID-19 protocols.
If the rules were out of proportion, it would have been understandable to be disappointed by this decision. However, the university has certainly taken a step in the right direction after this announcement while keeping the health and safety of other attendees at basketball games.
