The Golden State Warriors will, indeed, have the final member of their projected opening game starting lineup when the 2021-22 NBA regular season begins. After much was made of the fact that he had apparent religious objections to getting a COVID-19 vaccine, starting small forward Andrew Wiggins has ended up receiving one of the shots, anyway.
The news was announced by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who said that Wiggins will now be able to play in all games the Warriors play in accordance with regulations laid out for workers by the city of San Francisco.
Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins has been vaccinated and will be available for all games this season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 3, 2021
While the NBA has not mandated the vaccine for players amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it has said that players need to follow whatever their local guidelines are about getting vaccinated, and in the Bay Area, that means getting the vaccine or being able to participate in games and organized team activities. While Wiggins would have been able to play in road games, opting to not get the vaccine would have meant he’d be unavailable for all 41 home games at Chase Center.
The team had been concerned over the fact that Wiggins did not get vaccinated, and while he did apply for a religious exemption to the local mandate, his efforts were unsuccessful. Wiggins has not expressed why he’s decided to get vaccinated.