Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins didn’t want to get vaccinated.
However, facing a San Francisco mandate that required him to be vaccinated to play home games, he relented before the season.
Wiggins then became an All-Star for the first time in his career. He shined in the NBA Finals and won his first championship.
But Wiggins still isn’t happy with how the situation unfolded.
Wiggins, via FanSided:
I still wish I didn’t get it, to be honest with you. But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I feel like 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. 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. I didn’t like that it was either get this or don’t play.
You can think both the vaccine has been an effective tool in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and that there’s something uncomfortable about the government effectively forcing people to inject something into their bodies.
Wiggins’ union ensured the NBA wouldn’t require vaccination. However, San Francisco superseded labor rights and individual rights many thought Wiggins should have held. To protect his livelihood from a private company, Wiggins had to get an unwanted medical procedure required by the local government.
Vaccinations have made people less likely to contract coronavirus, less likely to spread coronavirus and less likely to suffer severe outcomes if they contract coronavirus. But the government compelling vaccination is a different step, one Wiggins – even with the benefit of hindsight – still opposes.