Notable NBA Players Who Are Against The COVID-19 Vaccine

As America struggles to combat the highly transmissible Delta Variant strain, it appears as though another pandemic is slowly emerging amongst COVID-19 skeptics called anti-vaxxers. Unfortunately, some of those COVID-19 conspiracists happen to be stars we love and admire.

Boxing Champ Laila Ali recently expressed her concerns over receiving the potential life-saving double dose, telling her followers on Instagram to “build up and trust their own immune system” before getting inoculated against the virus. Rapper Busta Rhymes went on a full-on tangent about the government’s nationwide COVID-19 vaccine mandates during a concert in St. Louis back in June. The rapper asked fans to remove their masks claiming that the government was “trying to take our civil liberties away.”

Now, although about 90% of the NBA is vaccinated — including stars like Damien Lillard, who offered a textbook reason for why he got the shots —  it appears as though the anti-vax hysteria is spreading to the NBA as a number of players have recently expressed controversial opinions about the vaccine.

Damian Lillard on getting vaccinated.#RipCity pic.twitter.com/h0trtXtwHz

— Orlando Sanchez (@orlandokgw) September 27, 2021

One of the dissenting players is the Orlando Magic’s Jonathan Issac, who said during a press conference that he was “uncomfortable” with receiving the vaccine.

Jonathan Isaac shares his full thoughts on vaccinations and addresses the Rolling Stone article.

“I’m not anti-vax. I’m not anti-medicine. I’m not anti-science. I didn’t come to my current vaccination status by studying black history or watching Donald Trump press conferences.” pic.twitter.com/EvT4KwGJwx

— Beyond the RK (@beyondtheRK) September 27, 2021

Issac clarified his stance after Rolling Stones published an article citing that he had grown to become skeptical of the vaccine after he examined a few of former president “Trump’s press conferences.”

Jonathan Isaac, I believe, is the first NBA player to be *this* loudly anti-Covid vaxx. Says he considered unvaxxed players to be vilified and bullied. Came to his anti-Covid vax stance from watching Trump press conferences and now distrusts Fauci. pic.twitter.com/320j1bPvdK

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 26, 2021

In the same article, the aunt of Brooklyn Net’s star Kyrie Irving alleged that her nephew would not be reiving a jab because of “moral based” reasons. During the pre-season media day conference at the Barclays Center on Monday, the 29-year-old declined to further comment on his vaccination status.

“Living in this public sphere, there’s a lot of questions about what’s going on in the world of Kyrie,” he said virtually to reporters as he was unable to attend the event. Kyrie continued: “I would love to just keep that private and handle that the right way with my team and go forward with a plan.”

The truth is that the anti-vax uproar in the world of sports is truly problematic, especially as Black people continue to be disproportionately impacted by the virus.

LeBron James says he’s now vaccinated. As for urging others to get vaccinated, he says “That’s not my job.”

“We’re talkin’ about individuals’ bodies. We’re not talkin’ about something that’s political, or racism, or police brutality …” pic.twitter.com/p7wv4mkf5o

— The Recount (@therecount) September 28, 2021

According to the COVID Race Tracker, America has lost at least 73,462 Black lives to COVID-19 to date. Black people are 2.8 times more likely to become hospitalized by the virus and 2 times more likely to die from the disease compared to Whites and Non-Hispanics, the CDC notes.

Both Issac and Irving have young fans that look up to them, especially young adolescents of color. How does their COVID-19 anti-vax hearsay appear to the youth that look up to them, especially today’s generation who take much of what athletes say to heart? How does it look to their fans that continue to become hospitalized from the contagious virus?

Los Angeles Lakers alum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, recently scolded the young NBA stars for using their public platforms to spread misinformation about the vaccine.

“..it’s so shocking and disappointing to see so many people, especially people of color, treat the vaccination like it’s just a matter of personal preference, like ordering no onions on your burger at a drive-thru,” he said. “While I can understand the vaccine hesitancy of those who have been historically marginalized and even abused by the health care system, enough scientific documentation has been given to the public to set that past behind us for now. Yes, we should never forget. Those experiences should sharpen our critical thinking to not accept things blindly. But it doesn’t mean we reject things blindly. The drowning man doesn’t ask if a racist made the life preserver keeping him afloat, only that it works to save his life.”

Unfortunately, Kyrie and Issac aren’t the only NBA players who are publicly against the vaccine. Here’s a list of NBA athletes who have shared their controversial opinions about the vaccine.