Unvaccinated NBA Players Will Not Be Allowed To Play In Cities With Local Restrictions

BYCole Blake2.2K Views
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Vaccines, NBA
NBA players who aren't vaccinated won't be able to play in cities with local requirements on vaccination.

Unvaccinated NBA players will not be able to participate in games held in cities with local restrictions, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Only players with a medical or religious exemption will be able to get around the requirement.

“Unvaccinated NBA players in markets with local requirements — such as NYC (Knicks, Nets) and SF (Warriors) — will not be allowed to enter home arenas or facilities for games or team activities conducted there unless there’s approved medical or religious exemption,” Charania explained in a tweet, Wednesday.

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“This follows local governmental policies, meaning unvaccinated players on the Nets, Knicks and Warriors are not allowed to play in home games,” Charania added. “Visiting players are exempt from the vaccination requirements in NYC and SF."

As for the league's rules, the anticipated COVID-19 health and safety protocol, which requires approval from the National Basketball Players Association, will require unvaccinated players to eat, fly and ride buses in different areas than their other teammates. Unvaccinated players will also have to undergo testing on both game days and practice days.

These restrictions likely won't affect many players, as NBPA executive director Michele Roberts told Yahoo Sports in July that 90% of NBA players were already vaccinated.

[Via]


About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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