NBA Says Unvaccinated Players Won’t Get Paid for Any Games They Miss Due to Vaccine Mandates

The start of the NBA’s regular season is three weeks away, and the league is taking a hard stance with its COVID–19 protocols to ensure no interruption in their game schedule.

The league has announced that unvaccinated players who are forced to miss games due to the executive orders governing vaccination requirements in New York and San Francisco will not be paid for any games they miss.

“Any player who elects not to comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for games that he misses,” Mike Bass, the NBA’s executive vice president of communications, said in a statement earlier today.

The decision comes in response to both cities’ executive orders that require one or more vaccinations. The requirements will impact the Brooklyn Nets and the Golden State Warriors.

The order in New York, which applies to the Barclays Center, requires one COVID-19 shot while a person must be fully vaccinated to enter San Francisco’s Chase Center.

The executive orders governing the vaccine in those cities only apply to the players who play in those markets, as out-of-market players are exempted from them.

The New York Knicks have already confirmed that their entire organization, including all players, is fully vaccinated and compliant with the New York City mandate.