Brooklyn Nets GM says New York City vaccination requirements won't be a problem

The Brooklyn Nets do not anticipate local COVID-19 vaccination requirements “being any sort of hindrance,” general manager Sean Marks said on Tuesday. In New York City, proof of vaccination has been required for indoor fitness and indoor entertainment since mid-August, which means that, in the absence of a medical or religious exemption, every Nets player must have had at least one vaccine dose to enter their practice facility or arena. 

Every NBA team will open training camps next week. If Brooklyn were beginning team activities today, Marks said, “there would obviously be a couple of people missing from that picture.” He expects, however, that the holdouts will be vaccinated (or receive an exemption) shortly. 

LIVE NOW: @SteveNash and Sean Marks address the media ahead of Training Camp https://t.co/qLnif2IfrP

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 21, 2021

“We all understand what’s at stake” – Nets General Manager Sean Marks

“I won’t get into who it is,” Marks said.

“But we feel confident that, in the following several days before camp, everybody will be allowed to participate and participate fully.”

An NBA spokesperson recently told the New York Times that approximately 85 percent of its players are fully vaccinated. The league will reportedly not have a vaccine mandate, but it will have vastly different health and safety protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated players.

Unvaccinated players will be tested for COVID-19 once every practice day and travel day and at least once on every game day, according to The Associated Press. For the Nets, the New York Knicks, the Golden State Warriors and any other team become subject to a local vaccination requirement, though, the NBA’s two-tiered system is effectively irrelevant. 

“I think we all understand what’s at stake,” Marks said.

“You know, we’ve had very candid conversations. Those are individual decisions that, whether it’s a staff member or whether a player, [individuals have to] come to terms with. It’s obviously out of our control. We are supporting getting the vaccination and putting out a healthy squad. And so at this point, I think we’re ready to go into the season.”

The Nets will hold their training camp in San Diego, as per NetsDaily, and they will play their first preseason game on October 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers. On October 19, the 2021-22 NBA regular season will begin with Brooklyn visiting the defending-champion Milwaukee Bucks. 

NBA Referees need to get vaccinated

Unlike the players, NBA referees are required to be fully vaccinated for the upcoming season. Regarding referees, the league released the following statement: 

“The NBA announced today that it has reached an agreement with the National Basketball Referees Association requiring vaccinations for all referees working NBA games during the 2021-22 season. The agreement specifies that all referees must be fully vaccinated unless they have a religious or medical exemption. The referees have also agreed to take any recommended boosters. Any referee who does not get vaccinated and is not exempt will be ineligible to work games.”