LeBron James says that he will be keeping his decision to get or not to get the COVID-19 vaccine “private.”
On Sunday, reporters asked James if he would be getting vaccinated for the Coronavirus if and when it was available to him. He responded, “That’s a conversation my family and I will have,” he said, according to The Bleacher Report. “I’ll keep that a private thing.”
James’s words followed NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, saying that the league and the Players’ Association “are in agreement that no one should be mandated to take the vaccine,” according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne.
“My recommendation, my strong recommendation, not just to our players, but based on all the information I have, is that people should get vaccinated,” he added. “But I recognize that these are individual decisions. I haven’t been vaccinated yet, but I will, as soon as it is my turn.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released an update about quarantine practices, stating those who have received the vaccine will not have to quarantine after being exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19.
“I think, for example, to accept that a vaccinated player doesn’t have to quarantine will be very liberating. In addition, we have a fairly complex set of rules in place now that, in many cases, require twice-a-day lab testing of our players to ensure that we can avoid spread. It may be the case that when players are vaccinated, that we’re able to loosen up the testing schedules and therefore give players more freedom,” said Silver. “I also respect that not everyone will see it the way we do,” Silver said about players who may be skeptical about getting the vaccine, per The Bleacher Report. “And ultimately, this is an individual decision that players need to make.”
