Over the past week, there has been a ton of discourse coming out of the NBA when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine. There are various players in the league who are refusing to get the vaccine, and some of them are big names. For instance, guys like Kyrie Irving are currently refusing it, while Andrew Wiggins is as well. Both players are in markets that require the vaccine, which means they could have to forfeit games, as well as their salary.
NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been very honest about his thoughts on anti-vaxxers and how they are doing something selfish. In his new substack, Kareem wrote at length about the anti-vaccine sentiment throughout the NBA, and how it has gotten to an unreasonable level. Abdul-Jabbar even got sarcastic about the whole thing, and his analogy was quite humorous.
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Per Abdul-Jabbar:
“Next time you have a serious infection, don’t take the anti-biotics the doctor prescribes because they don’t work 100 percent of the time. And when you’re playing basketball, don’t shoot the ball unless you score 100 percent of the time. Also, that question has been answered a thousand times by experts. Trying to make this a matter of principle would be fine, if there was a rational principle involved,” he wrote. “It’s not being forced to be vaccinated, since no one is forcing you. If you are so righteously committed to the principle, then don’t play professional basketball. Stand firm on that principle. Unless money trumps principle… The problem with that vague philosophy is that the rest of us pay for those sloppy thinkers because they are the ones clogging our hospitals, crushing our economy, and keeping us from our loved ones.”
Regardless of the large anti-vaxx voices in the league, 90 percent of the NBA is currently vaccinated, which is a pretty solid rate when you consider how 55 percent of the United States has the vaccine. NBA players are leading the way in these efforts, and it's important to remember that when just a few anti-vaxx voices get amplified.
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