With the NBA regular season just a couple of weeks away, a major talking point around the league continues to be the vaccination status of players and what that could mean once the season begins. While the Los Angeles Lakers are completely vaccinated, that isn’t the case for other teams and some star players.
The league itself has not required vaccination for its players, but some cities across the United States have done so in order to participate for certain indoor activities in which NBA games fall under. Now, the city of Los Angeles has done the same.
According to Christopher Weber of The Associated Press, the city of Los Angeles has officially approved one of the strictest vaccine mandates in the nation:
Los Angeles leaders on Wednesday approved one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates — a sweeping measure that requires the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms or even a Lakers game.
The City Council voted 11-2 in favor of the ordinance that will require proof of full vaccination starting Nov. 4.
Again, this doesn’t stand to affect the Lakers themselves as the entire team is vaccinated, so there are no concerns about players being unable to participate in home practices and games. But city mandates like there will certainly affect unvaccinated players across the league, the most notable of those known being Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets and Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards.
Irving has been at the forefront of the discussion on unvaccinated players as the city of New York has passed a similar ordinance requiring vaccination. As it stands, Irving won’t be able to play in any of the Nets’ home games and he doesn’t seem like he’s going to change his mind
Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar believes NBA should mandate vaccines
These strong vaccine mandates from cities are something that Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar believes the NBA should be doing themselves. Abdul-Jabbar has been very outspoken on his beliefs about the vaccine and even took part in a public PSA which saw him get the first dose of the vaccine on camera.
Kareem believes players choosing not to do so are risking the health of the players, coaches, and staff members around them and wants the NBA to make it a requirement.
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