Bradley Beal says he’s unvaccinated, creating complications for the Wizards

Bradley Beal revealed that he’s unvaccinated for “personal reasons” during the Washington Wizards’ Media Day on Monday. 

Bradley Beal joins a list of NBA players who are unvaccinated heading into the start of the 2021-22 NBA season. During the Washington Wizards‘ 2021 Media Day on Monday, Beal said that he isn’t vaccinated due to “personal reasons.”

Washington, D.C. doesn’t have a local mandate requiring individuals to be fully vaccinated prior to entering indoor venues, but Bradley won’t be able to play in away games against the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks. Beal isn’t alone, Andrew Wiggins and Kyrie Irving are two other big names in the league who are unvaccinated.

Washington Wizards veteran Bradley Beal is unvaccinated

With a little over three weeks until the Wizards kickoff the regular season against the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 20, Beal told the media that he isn’t vaccinated.

Bradley will be unable to play, or even attend, away games in New York City and San Francisco. On Oct. 25, Washington will take on the Nets at Barclays Center and Beal won’t be in the lineup, unless he is fully vaccinated.

It seems as if getting the COVID-19 vaccine isn’t a big deal to Bradley right now.

That could change given the fact that the NBA has proposed protocols that would prohibit unvaccinated players from eating and traveling with their own team, along with being tested on practice and game days. These players will have a completely different experience than those who are vaccinated.

Will Beal eventually decide to get vaccinated? It seems like he may, but just because he doesn’t want to jump through the hoops that the league has understandably set in place for unvaccinated players.