The last two seasons have been heavily impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But this year, most fans are hoping everything returns to normal and they can enjoy seeing their favorite players without any restrictions. This is easier said than done. Because in order for this to happen, the league needs to take precautions against any outbreaks.
The first step to prevent this situation? To ensure all players in the NBA are vaccinated. It shouldn’t be an issue, right? You will be, to say the least, will be reducing the chances of seeing any deadly complications due to the virus yourself and everyone around you.
While most NBA players have agreed to get vaccinated before the new season begins, some have preferred to either not disclose their vaccination status or flat out deny getting vaccinated. The reason that most have provided is that they are apparently not sure about whether the vaccination actually works and would prefer to research about it on their own.
This has become quite a hot topic recently and ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy called out these players. He talked about it during a pre-season game between the Miami Heat and the Houston Rockets.
“You know what drives me crazy? ‘I’m doing my own research.’ I would like someone to answer this: What does that look like? You doing your own research? Are you doing studies yourself? Are you in lab nightly? I don’t understand what that means.”
"You know what drives me crazy? 'I'm doing my own research.' I would like someone to answer this: What does that look like? You doing your own research? Are you doing studies yourself? Are you in lab nightly? I don't understand what that means."
– Jeff Van Gundy didn’t hold back pic.twitter.com/3XAzn0CtES
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 8, 2021
Van Gundy didn’t directly aim his questions towards Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets, but many fans assumed he meant it. As Irving has already denied revealing his vaccination status.
While Van Gundy might not have directed his attack toward Irving, but NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not shy about calling out individual players. He recently spoke about Andrew Wiggins’ reason to get vaccinated.
Additionally, Kareem even slammed LeBron James for his stance on people not getting vaccinated.
At the end of the day, this has turned out a pretty ugly situation, when it should have been a no-brainer. Do you want to stay safe from the COVID-19 virus? So just get the vaccine shot. Pretty simple, right?
