NBA title holder Andrew Wiggins still has a bitter taste in his mouth after being forced to acquiesce to the NBA mandate to take the coronavirus vaccine in order to play last year.
Turns out that Wiggins was an indispensable contributor to the Golden State Warriors, who vanquished the Boston Celtics in six games in the NBA Finals in June 2022. While he immersed himself in the euphoria of getting his first championship during his “best season,” Wiggins remains salty about being forced to get inoculated.
“I still wish I didn’t get [vaccinated], to be honest with you. But you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do,” Wiggins said on the “Fansided” podcast.
Wiggins would have missed most of the season – much like Brooklyn Nets’ superstar Kyrie Irving did – lest he capitulated to the COVID-19 protocols. Winning it all in 2021-22 takes some of the sting out of getting the shot, but not all of it.
“I did it and I was an All-Star this year and champion, so that was the good part, just not missing out on the year, the best year of my career,” Wiggins continued. “But for my body, I just don’t like putting all that stuff in my body, so I didn’t like that and I didn’t like that it wasn’t my choice,” he said.
“I didn’t like that it was either get this or don’t play.”
Wiggins adamantly resisted the vaccine requirement and filed for a religious exemption, but the NBA ultimately rejected it. Wiggins went on to post 18 points and 8 rebounds in the finals and was a candidate for the MVP award which ultimately went to teammate Steph Curry.
Check out the interview below.
