New Protocols Issued By NBA For Upcoming Season, Strictness For Non-Vaccinated Players

The NBA committee and Commissioner Adam Silver do not have any orders that all players need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 for the 2021-22 season.

New Protocols Issued By NBA For Upcoming Season, Strictness For Non-Vaccinated Players

There has been no official mandate ordered as the league and National Basketball Players Association could not come to the same terms on that matter.

Although through unofficial terms, the league has ordered the players to receive the vaccination.

After the league announced that it was compulsory for all the non-players (coaches, trainers, scorer’s table workers) to be vaccinated and after the National Basketball Referee Association came to terms that all the involved referees would also be vaccinated, the league issued a sixty-one pages curriculum to all the teams that included the Covid-19 safety and health protocols that were to be implemented compulsorily for the 2021-22 season.

It has been clearly stated by the league that they want all the players to be vaccinated and it has been made very clear that more restrictions would be imposed on unvaccinated players.

Some of the terms of the league are as follows:

• All the players that are already vaccinated can be spared from regular testing, but the non-vaccinated players would go through regular testing, such as rapid tests when staying at team facilities, et cetera.
• Vaccinated players don’t need to be quarantined if they are found to be in close contact with a Covid-19 infected person, unless there are some strange circumstances, but would be undergoing rapid testing for a whole week. For non-vaccinated players, they would be asked to be in quarantine for a week, if found to be in close contact with an infected person.
• Non-vaccinated players cannot sit and eat indoors with vaccinated players.
• Non-vaccinated players should maintain a distance of six feet during group team meetings or treatment periods, with a mask at all times. They are also prohibited to use hydrotherapy spaces, strength, and condition spaces if at that time a vaccinated person is present in the area.
• All the lockers of non-vaccinated players would be situated distantly from each other and not next to each other.
• All non-vaccinated players are not allowed to go outside to any public places such as restaurants, bars, clubs, entertainment venues, large outdoor gathers, or other places of high risk.
• If any cities require compulsory vaccination, and if non-vaccinated players are not able to play due to this reason, then they would not receive any salary for the games that they have missed.

The league has sent a clear and direct message to the teams. It can be said that the NBA is preferring a lot and compelling players to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

A general manager gave a statement expressing his happiness towards the protocols that are implemented that are forcing the players to get the vaccine, and he also stated that the league is trying to make the situations as difficult as possible for all non-vaccinated players.

The league completely understands that all the non-vaccinated players are at the risk of being shunned and shut-off, but the NBA officials have greater responsibilities of ensuring the safety and health of all the players and it aims to have fewer Covid-19 related concerns than the previous year.