US SPORT
Non-vaccinated US leagues will be asked to pay
Kyrie Irving draws all the attention ahead of the NBA season’s start. For once not because of his brilliant game, but because of his vaccination decision. This is not the first time the point guard has been noticed next to the parquet.
Kyrie Irving could miss all of his Brooklyn Nets home games this season.
Kyrie Irving is a basketball player in the NBA, and an extremely successful one at that. With LeBron James he won the championship of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, his dribbling and his feel for the ball are unique. He is considered to be one of the technically best players in history. The Australian-born American wants to build on his legacy with the Brooklyn Nets and win his second title in the best basketball league in the world. He is supported by the two former “Most Valuable Players” Kevin Durant and James Harden.
But whether Kyrie Irving can even support the contender for the title is currently questionable. For the new season, which starts on October 19, strict Covid measures apply, especially for non-vaccinated players. Because apart from the protection concept, which includes daily tests, a mask requirement and a basic distance to the other players, non-vaccinated players who miss a game due to a lack of vaccination against the coronavirus are not paid. In Kyrie Irving’s case, that’s around 355,000 francs, and around 14.5 million francs for a missed regular season. A substantial sum that the Guard apparently wants to do without without any problems.
No wages and no entry in New York
Because even stricter measures apply in New York, the 29-year-old should not take part in a single home game of his Nets. In the Big Apple, a proof of vaccination is required to enter a sports hall. So it means neither training sessions nor championship games in the local Barclays Center. If Irving remains stubborn and continues to refuse the Covid-19 vaccine, he could theoretically only take part in the away games (depending on the regulations of the respective state).
As ingenious as Irving acts on the floor, the seven-time all-star sometimes expresses himself unhappy. A few years ago, for example, he claimed that the “earth was flat”. After all, he was later proven wrong and apologized for this statement. According to the US media, conspiracy theories should not be far removed from him.
Virtually all of them are vaccinated in the NHL
Problem cases like Kyrie Irving are the exception in the NBA. 95 percent of all players took advantage of the protective syringe, which for 30 teams corresponds to roughly one unvaccinated person per team. The Atlanta Hawks around Clint Capela are expected to have a fully vaccinated team. This is also the case throughout the NHL, where the vaccination rate is even higher than in the NBA. Here one reckons with 98 to 99 percent.
In the American ice hockey league, it is the coaches who make the headlines. While there is no obligation for the players, as in the NBA, all the rest of the staff on a team must be vaccinated. That already cost the Swiss Grégory Hofmann, Dean Kukan and Tim Berni (now in the AHL) at the Columbus Blue Jackets with Sylvain Lefebvre an assistant coach. Lefebvre, who won a championship title as a player with SC Bern in 2002, was already the second assistant coach. The San José Sharks had already separated from Rocky Thompson.
Also in the NFL, the professional league in American football, the vaccination rate is said to be high. At over 93 percent. The league also achieved this quota without obligation, but had written an urgent letter. If a game could not take place due to a Covid outbreak, the game would not be postponed, but instead counted as a loss. On top of that, the players would not receive any wages for a week. In addition, vaccinated players do not have to be tested daily or in quarantine when they come into contact with infected people. Before writing, the rate was 20 percent lower.
