Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Calls For Unvaccinated Players To Be Cut

Sooner or later, the NBA is going to have to act on vaccinations. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has called for harsh sanctions for unvaccinated players.

The league wants to get teams playing in full stadiums once again. However, this will not be possible unless all players and staff are vaccinated.

As is well documented by now, many players are opposed to getting the Covid-19 vaccine. Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving has even gone as far as to say he will sit out home games in protest to New York’s vaccine requirement.

At best, this issue will be disruptive for NBA teams. At worst, it will be a controversial reopening of old wounds.

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“The NBA should insist that all players and staff are vaccinated or remove them from the team,” NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told Rolling Stone. “There is no room for players who are willing to risk the health and lives of their teammates, the staff and the fans simply because they are unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation or do the necessary research. 

“What I find especially disingenuous about the vaccine deniers is their arrogance at disbelieving immunology and other medical experts. Yet, if their child was sick or they themselves needed emergency medical treatment, how quickly would they do exactly what those same experts told them to do?”

Read: Kyrie Irving’s Unvaccinated Status Could Cause Him To Miss Nets Home Games

The NBA hasn’t yet called for mandatory vaccinations, as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar demands. The league is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Doing the responsible thing, and what would probably be the best thing for the NBA season will require the league to shoot itself in the foot. If it’s as serious about leadership as it was in March 2020, the league should require vaccination.