NBA protocols/Covid/Vaccine - Discussion thread

[Pointgod]

I very sincerely thought the league wouldnt waddle into this quagmire. I cant imagine the NBAPA doesnt appeal and then likely sue after the first fine for this. Im not privy to the contracts so i have no idea how strong the lawsuit would be, but i thought the NBA-being 90%+ vaccinated- wouldnt go down this road for a couple fringe cases and would just charge it to the game.

The NBA doesn't create state laws, how do you expect them to avoid "waddling into this quagmire"?

Right? It’s essentially asking teams and potentially the NBA to take the hit for breaking local laws and allowing unvaccinated players to play and practice with the team. Most places would just fire an employee that was continually breaking laws that could lose them money. Weird line of thinking.

[seren]

Lol nice try.

The league would be more than fine without Irving, MPJ, Wiggins, Burke and the other around 35 player

Yep. There is also the nonsense assumption that vaccinated players are neutral parties here. Players, coaches, refs, other staff and their families all have stake in this. I am pretty sure a significant amount of them are as worried about Covid as the rest of the society and are not interested in risking getting Covid from unvaccinated players. They are well capable of understanding these dudes but also what Karl Anthony Towns and his family went through.

Why should a vaccinated person be afraid or worried about an unvaccinated person? That makes no sense and means the vaccine is pointless. The logic is all over the place with this thing. It's become more about I believe in this so I want you to do it too.

Well obviously we vaccinated are all very stupid. Excuse us. Move along. Nothing to see here. Good luck with your Covid

[jg77]

Yep. There is also the nonsense assumption that vaccinated players are neutral parties here. Players, coaches, refs, other staff and their families all have stake in this. I am pretty sure a significant amount of them are as worried about Covid as the rest of the society and are not interested in risking getting Covid from unvaccinated players. They are well capable of understanding these dudes but also what Karl Anthony Towns and his family went through.

Why should a vaccinated person be afraid or worried about an unvaccinated person? That makes no sense and means the vaccine is pointless. The logic is all over the place with this thing. It's become more about I believe in this so I want you to do it too.

Well obviously we vaccinated are all very stupid. Excuse us. Move along. Nothing to see here. Good luck with your Covid

No, you're not stupid. And you and anyone can do whatever. But for folks who don't want it just leave them alone

[seren]

Why should a vaccinated person be afraid or worried about an unvaccinated person? That makes no sense and means the vaccine is pointless. The logic is all over the place with this thing. It's become more about I believe in this so I want you to do it too.

Well obviously we vaccinated are all very stupid. Excuse us. Move along. Nothing to see here. Good luck with your Covid

No, you're not stupid. And you and anyone can do whatever. But for folks who don't want it just leave them alone

They are left alone. They don’t have to do anything. They are free to choose whatever they want to do.

[HomoSapien]

The choice is boosting your health and keeping all your money or being more vulnerable while losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Really tough decision for these guys.

[Karate Diop]

Fair is fair. I can hear Wiggins and Beal's sleeves getting rolled up.
Dunno bout Kyrie

I think the opposite actually, those two have been much more vocal about their stupidity than Kyrie in this instance.

I don't think it's fair to call them stupid. I have close relatives who are strongly against getting vaccinated that aren't stupid people. People who want everyone to get vaccinated have to understand the motivations of those who are resisting it. In my family's case it is a deep seeded fear and mistrust of the federal government that is the primary cause of their resistance. And people calling them stupid or ignorant has only caused them to dig in their heels more and become further entrenched in their beliefs.

I don't have the answer for how to open up real dialogue with guys like Wiggins and Beal, but if the goal is to get them vaccinated, insulting them is having the opposite of the desired result.

That's a very good point. "Stupid" wasn't the right term to use there... I mean the most outspoken anti-vaxxers typically are stupid, but that's a subset of a larger population that has chosen not to get the vaccine (for a variety of reasons), so you are correct in saying that generalizing the entire non-vaccinated population as stupid isn't fair...

[lamscott]

Meh.

Companies have a right to mandate the Vaccine. Don't comply and don't get paid. These are private enterprises.

People get too mixed up in their politics and unwillingness to understand that they are peons.

USA is a republic, not a free for all, you guy really gotta understand government civics here.

All this over a vaccine when mostly everyone hear eats chicken with all the crap put in to them like if its doesn't affect you in the long term.

Sack it up, or go play somewhere else.

[Dirk]

These people are nutty.

Wouldn’t doubt their only interaction outside of work (if they even do work) is thru this basketball message board.

No need for personal attacks. People are allowed to express their viewpoints and opinions.

To be fair, that viewpoint was that he wants people who aren't vaccinated to die because it continues to benefit him financially. I'm not sure that is something people should be allowed to express?

The post you mention resulted in a suspension for that user.

You did not report the post. Instead, you preferred to write in the topic and complain about it, something that was clearly highlighted as something not to do - no backseat moderating.

Read this
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2125427

And this
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2125433#p93848048

Any further posts that add no value to the topic and just clutter it = suspension.

[Ayt]

It's funny how here in Florida where there are no BS mandates you could walk around town and not even have an inkling that anything was wrong unless you turned on the fear inducing boob tube.

Or if you went to a hospital

You must mean the boob tube projection of what's going on at hospitals. The real hospitals are fine.

Post like this are why I have zero sympathy for antivaxxers.

[seren]

NBA protocols seem lax to me. They pushed the responsibility to local governments. The commissioner should do what NFL is doing. Forfeit games and salaries if there is a breakout due to unvaccinated player.

[Dirk]

No need for personal attacks. People are allowed to express their viewpoints and opinions.

To be fair, that viewpoint was that he wants people who aren't vaccinated to die because it continues to benefit him financially. I'm not sure that is something people should be allowed to express?

I'm of the apparent minority that believes that yes, that is something people should be allowed to express.

If you don't let people express anything they want, then you won't know what people think. This way you know.

Of course this is a basketball forum with its own rules, so that's that. But in the public arena I'm an absolute believer in unrestricted free speech, even if you're inciting violence or whatever. Supressing the voice only serves to hide the thoughts

Someone expressing that they're fine with other human beings dying and on top of it saying they're happy because they'll get paid more is not acceptable.

They can think whatever they want. But they should use other platforms to express that. Not only is it "morally wrong", but it clearly doesn't lead to any good discussion.

[seren]

Seems like for Wiggins’ case at least, the team can offer him a buyout roughly equivalent of what he would make missing all home games. I feel like GS would be happy to such an outcome given their luxury tax savings. Wiggins would be free to sign with one of Florida or Texas teams

[Ayt]

This is wrong on so many levels. Imagine withholding millions of dollars from someone over their personal beliefs. Unreal

What a terrible post that you thought was clever. There are an unlimited amount of personal beliefs that could cause a person to lose their employment. Happens all the time.

Yeah but used in this context, I would say not. The vaccine mandate is unprecedented

That word doesn't mean what you think it means. There is even a Supreme Court case about compulsory vaccination laws.

[FNQ]

Or if you went to a hospital

You must mean the boob tube projection of what's going on at hospitals. The real hospitals are fine.

Post like this are why I have zero sympathy for antivaxxers.

Not to mention its complete BS.. "real hospitals" like the one I was helping at for 4 months, or the one my wife currently works at, have their respiratory equipment maxed out - and thats in surrounding areas as well, as they wait for new machinery to come in.

And California is better than most... several troubling stories coming out of AZ/NM area re: respiratory ICU availability

[seren]

I think the opposite actually, those two have been much more vocal about their stupidity than Kyrie in this instance.

I don't think it's fair to call them stupid. I have close relatives who are strongly against getting vaccinated that aren't stupid people. People who want everyone to get vaccinated have to understand the motivations of those who are resisting it. In my family's case it is a deep seeded fear and mistrust of the federal government that is the primary cause of their resistance. And people calling them stupid or ignorant has only caused them to dig in their heels more and become further entrenched in their beliefs.

I don't have the answer for how to open up real dialogue with guys like Wiggins and Beal, but if the goal is to get them vaccinated, insulting them is having the opposite of the desired result.

That's a very good point. "Stupid" wasn't the right term to use there... I mean the most outspoken anti-vaxxers typically are stupid, but that's a subset of a larger population that has chosen not to get the vaccine (for a variety of reasons), so you are correct in saying that generalizing the entire non-vaccinated population as stupid isn't fair...

The most outspoken anti-vaxxers, aka Fox News broadcasters, are fully vaccinated. They are smart people. They are simply profiting of their followers’ misery. The true believers are the ones dying

[jbk1234]

I wish players across the leagues everywhere would sit out and let these leagues suffer. Us little guys don't have that much power to change the companies we work for but sport players can do it. This issue of control is bigger than BLM imo.

Approximately 90% of the players are vaccinated. They're not sitting out so the 10% who aren't can infect them.

[FNQ]

I think the opposite actually, those two have been much more vocal about their stupidity than Kyrie in this instance.

I don't think it's fair to call them stupid. I have close relatives who are strongly against getting vaccinated that aren't stupid people. People who want everyone to get vaccinated have to understand the motivations of those who are resisting it. In my family's case it is a deep seeded fear and mistrust of the federal government that is the primary cause of their resistance. And people calling them stupid or ignorant has only caused them to dig in their heels more and become further entrenched in their beliefs.

I don't have the answer for how to open up real dialogue with guys like Wiggins and Beal, but if the goal is to get them vaccinated, insulting them is having the opposite of the desired result.

That's a very good point. "Stupid" wasn't the right term to use there... I mean the most outspoken anti-vaxxers typically are stupid, but that's a subset of a larger population that has chosen not to get the vaccine (for a variety of reasons), so you are correct in saying that generalizing the entire non-vaccinated population as stupid isn't fair...

no, sometimes spades are spades.

Vaccine safety has nothing to do with the government, and a little (actual) research would show the overall safety of the vaccine. It may not be helpful to call them that, but.. spades.

Unless a doctor has specifically said it would mess with an underlying condition or Rx medication, there's no logical reason against it. If they don't want to still, that's fine because its legal, but it doesnt change a bad logical pattern

But wouldn't say stupid, its ignorant. Ignorant is the default we all have for things we simply don't know about, and its really not a bad thing. Willful ignorance absolutely is, but I dont think that's the proper term here either. But there is certainly a willingness to believe the outlandish over the grounded, and thats a problem.

[Statlanta]

Is there a player that has gotten the exemption. I can not believe there is not 1 player who has a religious specialty that doesn't comply with the vaccine.

[Liam_Gallagher]

It’s kind of hard to know any negative side effects of the vaccine when literally anyone (including doctors) who speaks negatively toward it on social media gets censored or deleted. For example if you make an Instagram post about having a negative side effect you get banned.

It honestly blows my mind how 85% of people are okay with this.

[FNQ]

It’s kind of hard to know any negative side effects of the vaccine when literally anyone (including doctors) who speaks negatively toward it on social media gets censored or deleted. For example if you make an Instagram post about having a negative side effect you get banned.

It honestly blows my mind how 85% of people are okay with this.

Like what side effects, for example?