The Sixers will be without forward Matisse Thybulle for a portion of their upcoming playoff series against the Toronto Raptors due to his vaccination status.
Thybulle is ineligible to play games in Toronto as he is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a decision he explained on Sunday night after the team’s win over the Detroit Pistons, their final game of the regular season.
Here is Thybulle’s full explanation to reporters as to why he decided not to get fully vaccinated:
“I am not fully vaccinated. This was a decision I made a long time ago…I made this choice, I thought I could keep it to myself, I thought I could keep it private, but people are always going to wonder, so…I was raised in a holistic household, where ‘anti-vax’ is not like a term that was ever used. It’s a weird term that has been kind of been thrown around to just label people. We grew up with Chinese medicine and naturopathic doctors. Just with that upbringing, coming into the situation, I felt like I had a solid foundation of medical resources that could serve me beyond what this vaccine could do for me. As things escalated and as this situation has played out I’ve obviously had to reconsider and look at it differently.
“To that point, it got to the point last year during the playoffs where I did actually consider getting vaccinated and went through with getting the first shot, the first dose, because at that point I was under the impression that getting vaccinated would mean I could not get the disease and transmit it to other people. And I felt like if I’m going to be a part of society, in the position I’m in, I need to do what’s right for the greater good. That argument with the greater good held a lot of weight for me. As things progressed, as this virus has changed many different ways, it showed through the science that wasn’t the case anymore, that even while being vaccinated you could still spread the disease.
“For me and my reasoning it felt like getting vaccinated was not something I needed to do to protect other people and was something I would have to do to protect myself. And with that being considered and the holistic background of my upbringing and the way I view medicine in general, I felt like I was secure in…going to the doctors I have to get to treat COVID if I did get it. In the case that I did, I was able to go about it in my holistic way and I am able to sit here today healthy and OK because of it.”
Thybulle was then asked about the impact his decision is having on the team and his teammates, as he will not be able to play in at least Games 3 or 4, or Game 6 if the series were to go that far.
“That was really hard,” Thybulle said. “I made this decision a while ago where this situation I am facing right now was not a factor. It wasn’t part of any of the decision making because at the time I would be available for my team and not restricted in any way to do my job. Having had the stance I had for almost a year now, I just felt like it couldn’t be something I could be forced to do because of rules or regulation changes. It just seemed like the right thing for me to just see it through. Unfortunately, the repercussions of that is going to be me missing games and not being there for my team. I have talked to them. Obviously, from from fans to coaches to front office to teammates, there are people who are upset and people who don’t understand but ultimately I’ve been lucky enough to have them voice that they may disagree but they still support me in my decision making. With that being said, I’m still going to be there and give 110 percent every time I’m available to be on the court.”
The Sixers open their series on Saturday in Philadelphia. It is unlikely Thybulle will start that game, as head coach Doc Rivers did not start Thybulle in the last game the full slate of starters were available. Rivers elected to start Danny Green in Thybulle’s place, something that is likely to take place in Game 1 as well.
The loss of Thybulle is a big one on the defensive end of the court as he is the team’s best perimeter defender.