Report: Unvaccinated Players Will Forfeit Salary For Games Missed Due to Vaccine Mandates

The NBA isn't going to let unvaccinated players miss games in New York and California this season due to local vaccine mandates.

While a league-wide vaccine mandate may be non-negotiable between the Players' Association and the NBA, the league is reportedly planning to withhold the salary of any player who is ruled ineligible to play in jurisdictions where vaccine mandates are in place, a league spokesman has reportedly said.

NBA spokesman Mike Bass: "Any player who elects not to comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for games that he misses."
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 29, 2021

Those rules are especially important for the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors who have two notable vaccine holdouts, Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins, who will be forfeit millions of dollars if they do not get vaccinated.

While New York and California do have vaccine mandates that require locals to get vaccinated in order to enter non-essential businesses, unvaccinated players on visiting teams will not be barred from playing in those jurisdictions. Bradley Beal, for example, will be permitted to play in Brooklyn despite being unvaccinated while Irving is not permitted to play on his home Nets court.

For the Toronto Raptors, the federal government has issued a National Interest Exemption that will permit unvaccinated players to cross the border and play in Scotiabank Arena this season, general manager Bobby Webster said Monday. Those plays will be required to undergo daily testing and will not be allowed to leave the hotel for anything other than baseball-related activities.

The Raptors are one second dose away from being 100% fully vaccinated, according to Webster. They believe that 100% mark will be reached before the start of the season.

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