NBA players will not be mandated to get vaccinated against COVID-19, league sources tell ESPN.
The NBA and NBPA continue to negotiate aspects of COVID-related protocols and procedures for the upcoming 2021-22 campaign, but the NBPA has refused to budge on whether players would be mandated to take the vaccine, sources say, and that aspect of negotiations remains a "non-starter."
NBA referees and most NBA staff are mandated to be vaccinated.
The NBA and NBPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Roughly 85% of players are vaccinated, a league spokesman recently said, and, in a preliminary memo obtained by ESPN in early September, the league outlined a set of strict protocols for unvaccinated players.