NBA players faced burdensome and literally tiring protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic last season.
The approximately 90% of players who are vaccinated will have an easier time next season.
Especially if all their teammates are vaccinated, too.
Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Sources: The NBA has informed teams that it anticipates that fully vaccinated players and team personnel will not be required to undergo regular coronavirus testing during 2021-22 season. Non-fully vaccinated players/personnel will undergo regular testing.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2021
Fully vaccinated individuals: Not required to quarantine if close contact. No restrictions on team activities.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2021
Non-fully-vaccinated: Required to quarantine for seven days if close contact. Masks at facilities/team travel. Not able to sit next to other players during activities. https://t.co/ASKdCdfD1t
If all players on a team are fully vaccinated, NBA and NBPA anticipate there would be no restrictions on those players‘ away-from-work activities (such as accessing indoor bars, clubs, lounges), sources said. https://t.co/ASKdCdfD1t
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2021
Vaccines are – by far – the best ticket to regaining the freedoms obstructed by coronavirus. Vaccinations keep people, both those inoculated and those around them, safer.
The NBA should put tighter restrictions on players who choose not to get vaccinated. It’s a sound business decision. By being more likely both to contract and spread coronavirus, unvaccinated players threaten to derail the NBA’s money-making operation.
Local government regulations could require Warriors, Knicks and Nets players to get vaccinated in order to play home games.
Now, the NBA is inducing a layer of peer pressure to vaccine holdouts. Imagine being the reason your teammates can’t go to indoor bars and clubs.
