One of the biggest controversies in sports at the moment is what has happened with tennis star Novak Djokovic ahead of the Australian Open. Djokovic’s vaccination status caused uproar in Australia after the star arrived to compete for his 21st Grand Slam title. This led to multiple court cases with the eventual verdict resulting in Djokovic’s visa being canceled and the Serbian star having to leave the country.
A number of people in the world of sports have given their take on the situation and NBA stars have now also spoken out. Nikola Vucevic of the Chicago Bulls and Boban Marjanovic of the Dallas Mavericks have both showed their support for Novak online, with Vooch in particular, calling out politicians for using Djokovic to show their power.
What happened to Djokovic is just politicians using their power to show off and get extra followers.
It has nothing to do with Covid or visa issues, they used him to try to make themselves look better.
Very sad how they treated a First Class Champion!
— Nikola Vucevic (@NikolaVucevic) January 16, 2022
“What happened to Djokovic is just politicians using their power to show off and get extra followers. It has nothing to do with Covid or visa issues, they used him to try to make themselves look better. Very sad how they treated a First Class Champion!”
Boban Marjanovic shared a much simpler message, posting an Instagram story saying that he stands with Djokovic on the issue
The NBA’s stance on vaccination has been pretty stringent throughout the season so it’s surprising to see the players speak out in this way. It remains to be seen if there will be any official response to their social media posts but for now, the league hasn’t commented on the situation.
The NBA as well as other sports organizations around the world continue to deal with increased cases of Covid-19 and this controversy is unlikely to die down anytime soon. As far as Djokovic is concerned, his participation in the rest of the tennis tournaments also seems to be in jeopardy thanks to his vaccination status. In any case, this is likely not the end of the story.
