SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins received a COVID-19 vaccination and will be eligible to play in home games this season, coach Steve Kerr said following Sunday’s practice.
“Andrew got vaccinated,” Kerr said. “He just told me today that he was fine with us acknowledging it and that will be the end of it. I’m not going to answer any questions beyond that.”
The topic of Wiggins’ vaccination status came into question prior to training camp given the restrictions from the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health, which recently announced that anyone 12 or over had to be fully vaccinated to attend indoor events.
Wiggins drew even more attention to the issue during Warriors media day last Monday when he said it was his issue to deal with, not reporters’, as it pertained to the possibility of lost earnings. “It’s my problem,” he said at the time. “Not yours.”
Wiggins applied to the NBA for a religious exemption, but that was declined by the league. While Kerr and the Warriors did not want to go into any specifics about Wiggins’ decision or the type of shot he received, all signs point to it being a Johnson & Johnson shot. Many players, coaches and staffers got that shot months ago — and in Wiggins’ case now, by taking just one shot, he will not be forced to miss any regular-season action to wait for a second dose.
The San Francisco Dept. of Public Health is imposing an Oct. 13 deadline for vaccination of staff in local businesses. If Wiggins did indeed get the Johnson & Johnson shot, he wouldn’t be forced to miss any practice or game time prior to the regular season home opener on Oct. 21 against the LA Clippers.
“I’m not answering any of those questions,” Kerr said, after noting that Warriors players and coaches were now 100% vaccinated, or in Wiggins’ case on the verge of becoming fully vaccinated. “We’re done. It’s happened. That’s all anybody needs to know. We can talk about practice or games.”
Kerr said that he expects Wiggins, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green all to play in Monday’s preseason opener against the Portland Trail Blazers. While the minutes remain unclear, Kerr was hopeful that his starters would play somewhere around 20 minutes.