Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins has finally caved to the mounting pressure to get vaccinated after holding out for most of the year.
Wiggins’ decision came after the NBA denied his religious exemption application that would have enabled him to avoid the vaccine, CBS Sports reports.
An exasperated Warriors head coach Steve Kerr informed the media that since Wiggins has gotten immunized, he will no longer entertain questions on the subject.
“Andrew got vaccinated,” Kerr said. “He just told me today that he was fine with us acknowledging it and that will be the end of it. I’m not going to answer any questions beyond that.”
It was basically a $15 million decision that Wiggins made. San Francisco, the new home city of the NBA’s Warriors after moving across the Bay from Oakland, made it a law that unvaccinated people cannot enter indoor facilities. Wiggins would not have been able to play at home games. That would have meant that Wiggins would have had to sit out 41 of the league’s 82-game schedule, costing Wiggins at least $7.5 million.
The NBA announced last week they will not pay unvaccinated players who miss games.
Media members speculated that the Warriors were entertaining possible trades for Wiggins since he would be unavailable for half of the team’s games during the 2021-22 season that kicks off on Oct. 19.
Wiggins has now been scratched from the list of players who refused to get inoculated. Most prominently on that list are Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving and Portland Trailblazers’ rising star Michael Porter Jr.
