Anti-vaxxers get too much say in NBA Covid protocols

Every sports league has had to find ways to deal with professional sports in the midst of a global pandemic. Concessions have been made, plans have been changed in everything so that games can continue while players and fans are protected. Intelligence won when the NFL and NFLPA finally found an agreement on how to move forward in 2021. Now the NBA is in the middle of its own negotiations, and the league is on the verge of collapse because of it.

It is futile to try to crush words on a subject or to dance around events. NBAPA Vice President Kyrie Irving, who has always had a penchant for conspiracy theories, is now in a position of power to help solve the biggest health problem the league has ever faced. Although an estimated 90 percent of the league has been vaccinated, a tough, anti-vaxx cabal uses NBA / NBAPA negotiations as a soapbox to spread false information, and no one steps in to stop it.

An NBAPA meeting was held on August 7 to discuss the league’s desire to get players 100 percent vaccinated by the start of the NBA season. It was an important topic for the union to discuss, but it faced widespread reluctance to even talk about it. According to Matt Sullivan, Rolling Stone, while the majority of NBA players who have not yet been vaccinated are driven by false skepticism, a small but loud minority of anti-vaxx conspiracy theorists railroad killing conversations.

When the NBA media days began this week, Irving was one of those who danced around the issue of vaccination when asked directly that it was just an effort to maintain a public image. Instead of accepting the harm he has done, Irving cites a line of personal choice that vaccination skeptics have repeated as an ad nauseam principle as a justification for not receiving an attack. The overwhelming scientific evidence shows that not vaccinating is a social choice, not a personal one, because it affects the myriad ways around us.

Meanwhile, Bradley Beal is conveying here the notion that NBA players are getting sick from the vaccine, even though there is no evidence of this at all.

On the plus side, Beal can’t smell his own shit.

The recent tactic of an anti-Vaxx candidate has been to try to get religious exemption as a way to avoid vaccinations. Andrew Wiggins was denied vaccination freedom from the NBA on Friday, meaning he must either follow the regulations set by the San Francisco Department of Health or not play in any home games this season.

A similar provision in New York will prevent Irving from playing in Brooklyn this season, and there is no evidence that he intends to get a shot.

Jonathan Isaac of Magic, one of those players who chose to stand during the national anthem within the NBA bubble and not on the side of the players who support the Black Lives Matter movement, is also vehemently opposed to vaccinations and cites his religious beliefs as a key factor. He told Rolling Stone:

If you are vaccinated, in other places you still have to wear a mask regardless. It’s like, OK, so what’s the mask necessarily? Isaac continues. And if Kyrie says this about his executive role in the NBPA, then thank him.

Let us be very clear: The use of masks is not a huge hidden secret reasoned discussion. This is not Scooby and the gang zooming in on the mystery machine to solve another bad mystery. Masks have been discussed, againand againand again at the beginning of the pandemic. Greeting someone by asking difficult questions is simply acknowledging that you have done ZERO research on the subject.

• Vaccinated individuals can still spread Covid disease
• The more Covid spreads, the greater the chance of mutations into more harmful variants against which vaccines may not provide protection
• Children who cannot be vaccinated and those with a weakened immune response deserve care and attention, so masks are the minimum requirements of society to protect them.

Isaac’s choice is to ignore science and believe in God. He has every right to do so. This right does not extend to allowing him to play in the NBA in any way for his career. Moreover, mentioning religion as a defense is a particularly insidious rhetorical technique that sets religion and science as counterparts. This frustrated Enes Kanter in particular, who is a pious Muslim and also supports forcing players to be vaccinated.

If guys don’t get vaccinated because of their religion, I feel like we’re living in a time when religion and science have to go together, he says. RS. I have talked to many religious friends. I like: It saves people’s lives, so which is more important?

Kanter plays Celtics, a franchise that is aware of Covid’s risks. Celtics striker Jayson Tatum, 23, with no previous health problems, continues to experience long Covid symptoms that require him to use an inhaler before games, even though the virus became ill in January 2021.

Karl-Anthony Towns, another healthy, elite athlete who faced the tragedy of losing his mother to the virus, told Sports Illustrated that he lost 50 pounds after receiving Covid himself. Now, players like Towns and Tatum, who have destroyed the virus, have to sit down when the least knowledgeable people make decisions.

The fight is at the forefront of the NBA, but the concern is that sensible voices aren’t the loudest. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays his part and explains why it is so critical that current superstars lead the fight against the public health crisis.

That’s why it’s so shocking and disappointing to see that so many people, especially people of color, treat vaccination only according to their personal preferences, like not ordering an onion for your burger while driving. While I understand the hesitation of vaccinations from those who have been historically marginalized and even exploited by the health care system, the public has been given enough scientific documentation to guarantee the past. Yes, we should never forget. These experiences should sharpen our critical thinking of not accepting things blindly. But that doesn’t mean we reject things blindly. The drowning man does not ask if the racist has made a savior to keep him afloat, but that it will save his life.

Kareem went on to say that those who claim to need more research are simply stating that they have not done research. To take this a step further, I would add that people who want to do more research are specifically expecting something that will support their prejudices, whether it is smart or not.

This brings us to the point where numerous revised, supported medical journals are being thrown away for one that has not been confirmed but that supports the opposite view. How hundreds of millions of vaccinated individuals who have had no complications are ignored for one person saying their cousin’s best friends are the daughters of a postman who died after receiving the vaccine. Fauci and dozens of other respected virologists are branded as liars.

Undoubtedly, this is an extremely difficult situation. It is not right to ignore the concerns of people of color when they talk about trust in a government that has, for generations, created a repulsive pattern of behavior designed to put their needs to the last. However, there must be a smart way of dealing with this issue, which does not involve the external rejection of orders for vaccines, while defending ridiculous conspiracy theories. We can have discussions, as Kareem tries, to deal with this mistrust, but also a master to save lives.

Unfortunately, at the moment, it is a question of whose voice is the loudest, and sensible people like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns and Enes Kanter are overwhelmed by ignorant, stupid stupidity. The NBA and NBAPA need to do more and do better, and not accept that inaction is the way forward.