Warriors’ Wiggins wishes COVID vaccine wasn’t part of NBA title season
Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors dunks the ball against Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks during the fourth quarter in Game Three of the 2022 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals at American Airlines Center on May 22, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Getty Images via AFP)
LOS ANGELES – Golden State forward Andrew Wiggins may cherish the NBA title and All-Star nod that came with the best season of his career, but he still wishes a COVID-19 vaccine hadn’t been included in the mix.
“I still wish I didn’t get (the vaccine) to be honest with you,” the Canadian star told FanSided in an interview. “But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Wiggins had revealed his preference to remain unvaccinated last September, but finally agreed to get the jab because a San Francisco health order would have seen him sitting out home games if he didn’t.
He earned the first All-Star selection of his eight-year career, but said in March that even that hadn’t taken the sting out of the decision, even though he told the Bay Area News Group at the time that “it all worked out for the best.”
It certainly did on the floor, where his exploits included a highlight-reel dunk over Mavericks star Luka Doncic in the Western Conference finals and a key contribution to the Warriors triumph over the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
His decision ensured the 27-year-old would collect all of his $31.6 million salary, and helped the Warriors avoid the kind of implosion that befell the Brooklyn Nets, who were without star Kyrie Irving for much of the season because of his unvaccinated status and were swept out of the first round of the playoffs.
It was clear, however, that Wiggins remains irked that he felt forced into the decision.
“I did it and I was an All-Star this year and a champion, so that was the good part,” he said. “Just not missing out on the year, the best year of my career.
“But for my body, I don’t like putting all of that stuff in my body so I didn’t like that and I didn’t like that it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t like that it was either get this or don’t play.”
