Former Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins had his exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine denied on Friday, putting his availability in jeopardy for the upcoming season.
The Golden State Warriors play in San Francisco where anyone 12 or older must be vaccinated to attend or participate in large indoor gatherings. With the Chase Center’s capacity of 18,064, it means Wiggins must get vaccinated in order to play in his team’s home games.
“Under the current order, if unvaccinated, they cannot enter indoor areas regardless of the reason they are unvaccinated and cannot test out of this requirement even if they have a medical or religious exemption.” The San Francisco Department of Public Health said in a statement on Friday.
Similar guidelines were established in New York, where the Knicks and Nets are required to be fully vaccinated to play in their home games. As a league, the NBA is not requiring players to be vaccinated but unvaccinated players are subjected to daily testing.
Visiting players who play teams with a local COVID regulation are also not required to be vaccinated in order to play.
Wiggins was traded from the Timberwolves to the Warriors in Feb. 2020 as part of the D’Angelo Russell deal. Relied upon to be a secondary option, Wiggins averaged 18.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 83 games with Golden State since the trade.
