Even though 90% of NBA players are vaccinated, some notable players have spoken out to say they are not inoculated, including Bradley Beal, Andrew Wiggins and Kyrie Irving.
Now, for any player who is not vaccinated, being out of compliance with local mandates puts them at risk of losing money and not being allowed to play.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass relayed this information in an announcement early Wednesday morning.
"Any player who elects not to comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for games that he misses," Bass said.
The two cities in the NBA that have vaccine mandates are New York and San Francisco, which means the Knicks, Nets and Warriors players' will have to comply for all home games.
This is not good news for the Nets or the Warriors, more specifically Irving and Wiggins, who have both said publicly they are not taking the vaccine.
The NBA has stated its preference for all of its employees to have the vaccine, but Bass said the players’ union is roadblocking the league from being 100% vaccinated.
“A vaccine mandate for NBA players would need an agreement with the Players Association," said Bass. "The NBA has made these proposals, but the players’ union has rejected any vaccination requirement.”
While Irving is at training camp in San Diego, Nets head coach Steve Nash was asked whether he was worried about his absence and assured the media that they’re focus is on training camp.
“That’s not really something I’m focusing on right now,” Nash said when asked about his level of concern over Irving possibly missing home games. “I’m trying to have a great camp. Things could change day-to-day in so many ways, as we saw last year. Right now, we are just focused on camp.”
If Irving doesn’t, it could potentially hurt the Nets finances, according to Article VI, Section 1 of the CBA that says a team can cut a players’ payment if he fails to play in games without a reason for it.
The players’ association could fight over what the rule entails, and with Kyrie making $34 million this season he can afford any fine that is thrown his way. For the Nets' sake, they sure hope it won’t come down to that.
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