NBA not to pay players who miss games due to local vaccine mandates

The NBA isn’t forcing players to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but it is going to withhold pay for any player that misses games due to a local mandate.

“Any player who elects not to comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for games that he misses,” read a statement from NBA spokesman Mike Bass.

Mandatory vaccination for players has been a non-starter with the National Basketball Players Association, leading the league to institute strict protocols for unvaccinated players.

Local mandates supersede the NBA, however, meaning players in New York and San Francisco will have to sit out home games if they remain unvaccinated.

Roughly 90 per cent of players have been vaccinated. Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving and Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins (in pic) are two of the biggest stars to oppose getting the vaccine.

Both play their home games in cities with local vaccine requirements that would bar them from playing.