Unvaccinated NBA Players Won’t Be Able To Play Home Games In Markets With Vaccination Requirements, Like New York

The NBA has been rolling out its policies regarding vaccinations against COVID-19 ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. The most prominent move the league has made has been making the folks who interact with players and officials — coaches, executives, stadium staffers, etc. — get the vaccine. While players are not included due to that being something the league needs to negotiate with the union, the NBA came up with something of a workaround.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, players who refuse the vaccine and do not have a medical or religious exemption will not be allowed to play in home games or go to their facilities for team activities in markets where local rules will prevent them from doing so. Charania specifically pointed out the New York teams and the Golden State Warriors, both of which are based in places that have strict COVID-19 mandates.

This doesn’t mean that unvaccinated players are done for the season. Charania noted this is only for those teams when they play home games, but does not apply to players on those teams going on the road or road teams visiting those cities.

Perhaps the league will mandate the vaccine instead of relying on home cities laying out guidelines that are not particularly broad. If you are an NBA player in any of these markets and you wanna play this season, but you have not yet gotten vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, click here for information on how you can change that.