Just as NFL and MLB players have had to either answer or evade questions about getting vaccinated against Covid-19 in recent months, Monday was the NBA’s turn to address the polarizing topic.
After every player had their chance to speak, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt censured those who remain vaccine hesitant during his Monday night edition of SportsCenter.
“Why would anyone presume that athletes in any sport would be unified in a way that the rest of us in our country are not?” Van Pelt asked. “That they would collectively see eye to eye on any one issue, when would that ever be the case for any of us? NBA players are going to be just like our family, our friends, our co-workers.”
An impressive 90 percent of the league’s players have already received the jab. But with Bradley Beal claiming he “don’t give a damn about the herd,” Andrew Wiggins stating “it’s my problem, not yours,” and Kyrie Irving reportedly buying into outlandish conspiracy theories, it’s the unvaccinated 10 percent who are making the most headlines.
“I agree that your decisions are private,” Van Pelt said of the NBA players claiming their vaccine choice is a personal matter. “But unlike someone’s uncle who saw a thread somewhere on the internet, when you’re a star NBA player you have a platform to share those concerns with others, regardless of where they might have originated or whether or not they’re rooted
Joining Nets Media Day from Zoom because New York City Covid protocols prevent the unvaccinated from attending public indoor events, Irving would only note that his decision is “private.”
But according to a recent Rolling Stone report, Irving has been following and liking posts from a conspiracy theorist on Instagram who claims the vaccine is part of a “plan of satan” to control the Black population. Irving declined to use his platform to explain whether he believes Covid vaccines are connected to satan.
Van Pelt also slammed athletes who lean on the justification of wanting to research the vaccine more, calling it a “disingenuous” excuse. “What type of research?” Van Pelt said. “Where? Is it something you read or heard somewhere? Are you researching smallpox vaccines? Polio? Flu shots? Any of that?”
Despite some athletes stating they want to take time to research the vaccine, they never follow up to explain what their research entails, or what their findings have been. Leading most people to assume the research never actually existed. It’s not unlike most people, who don’t research medicine for themselves and instead trust the advice of their doctor.
“I don’t know why athletes who have trusted doctors their entire careers to care for ailments suddenly distrust them on this specific issue,” Van Pelt added.
Watch above via ESPN