- On Monday,
Kyrie Irving refused to say whether or not he had been vaccinated, ESPN reported. - NBA Legend
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told CNN unvaccinated NBA players should be "disciplined." - "I don't think they are behaving like good teammates or good citizens," Abdul-Jabbar said.
NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said players who don't get vaccinated against COVID-19 should be "disciplined."
On Monday, after Kyrie Irving declined to reveal his vaccination status after missing a media day with the Brooklyn Nets in New York City due to COVID-19 protocols, Abdul-Jabbar told CNN's Don Lemon that he can't accept Irving's statement.
"He's hiding behind procedure here. Either you understand what's going on and you're going to do the right thing or you don't understand what's going on and you're going to continue to create all this confusion with your stance," Abdul-Jabbar said.
ESPN reported that New York law requires pro athletes who play indoors in the city to have at least one vaccine shot.
Lemon said the NBA told the outlet that 90% of their players are vaccinated. Abdul-Jabbar said the 10% who haven't need to be disciplined and need to understand that we're in a "war."
"I don't think they are behaving like good teammates or good citizens," Abdul-Jabbar said, adding that masks and vaccines are the "weapons we use to fight this war."
He added: "When you're not going to be cooperative with that, you're working against the effort to make everybody safe. We can't have that."
Abdul-Jabbar added that not getting vaccinated may make some players "feel brave" or like they can do something "others can't do" but "that's not what we should be doing here."
"We should limit this virus with all the tools we have at our disposal," he said.