Unvaccinated NBA players will face major restrictions in the city of Toronto this season.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, unvaccinated players, including those traveling to play in the city, will only be able to leave their Toronto hotel for team activities and could face criminal charges if they break quarantine.
Sources: NBA players were informed unvaccinated players who breach quarantine in Toronto face criminal offense. Unvaccinated players only able to leave hotel for team activities. Per Canada's Quarantine Act, violations could lead to up to 6 months in prison and/or $750K in fines.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 7, 2021
The news comes a little over a week after the conclusion of NBA Media Days, which saw multiple players speak on their vaccine status, as well as vaccination pressure.
Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets is one of the few NBA star players who remain either unvaccinated or unwilling to tell the public about his vaccination status.
Irving was not present at the Nets facility for media day, and instead conducted his press conference via video. He asked for privacy when it comes to his vaccination status.
“You gotta make sure you respect the privacy,” Irving said. “I don’t want to create any more drama, that’s not what I’m here for. I’m going to continue to inspire and lead in the right way. Don’t say I never did anything for y’all. I hope y’all enjoyed that.”
For Irving and the Nets, Irving’s vaccine decision could be costly.
New York requires at least one dose of the vaccine in order for players to play indoors, and the Nets will play 41 home games at Barclays Center located in Brooklyn, New York.
Last week, the NBA announced that any player who misses a game due to not complying with local vaccine requirements will not be paid for the game.
As of now, Irving will not be able to play in Nets home games.
On Wednesday, Los Angeles joined New York and San Francisco in passing a vaccine mandate, though the ordinance does not apply to Staples Center — the home of the Lakers and the Clippers — and the arena will continue to allow proof of a negative test within 72 hours in order to enter.
As reported by The Daily Wire, “The Los Angeles City Council voted 11-2 on Wednesday to pass a new ordinance mandating most patrons provide evidence of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter the ‘indoor portion of a covered location’ of numerous businesses, including restaurants, bars, personal care establishments, and shopping centers.”
The ordinance goes into effect on November 29.
“Vaccinating more Angelenos is our only way out of this pandemic, and we must do everything in our power to keep pushing those numbers up,” Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. “These new rules will encourage more people to get the shot, and make businesses safer for workers and customers — so that we can save more lives, better protect the vulnerable, and make our communities even safer as we fight this pandemic.”
Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka told reporters that the team will be fully vaccinated, while Clippers head coach Ty Lue said that his team is fully vaccinated.
“Our guys are vaccinated, so, we just have to do whatever the league tells us to do; we try to abide by the rules and kind of go from there,” Lue said last week. “And we talked about it last year, just being able to adapt and do what we need to do to play the game that we love. And so, certain players, certain people have different beliefs, so I respect those beliefs. And our guys are fully vaccinated, so I respect their beliefs as well.”
The NBA regular season tips off October 19.
This article has been updated with additional information.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].