Advertisement

Knicks organization is fully vaccinated, can comply completely with NYC COVID-19 mandate

The New York Knicks won’t have any issues with New York City’s vaccine mandate this season.

The entire Knicks organization, from players to front-office staff, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, general manager Scott Perry said Friday, via ESPN. This will allow them to comply fully with New York’s new vaccine mandate that includes Madison Square Garden.

"I think it's a credit to our players, in particular, that they took this thing very seriously and took the responsibility to get that done," Perry said, via ESPN. "So, we're very proud of that fact, and we're gonna move forward."

A New York executive order was implemented earlier this month that requires everyone over the age of 12 be vaccinated against the coronavirus in order to enter "certain covered premises,” including all gyms or fitness centers, Madison Square Garden, the Barclays Center and more.

The NBA also confirmed that teams must follow local mandates like this, should their local governments implement them — which means that unvaccinated players would be unable to participate.

"This was all internally driven," Perry said, via ESPN. "Like I said, a lot of credit goes to our players, our medical staff. This is something that we've been on top of really the entire year, and again, just proud of our players for really stepping up and doing their part in this. We're an organization that will obviously follow laws and mandates from the leagues and state government, but a lot of this was internally driven."

About 90% of players in the league are currently vaccinated. At least two teams, the Knicks and the Detroit Pistons, are fully vaccinated.

Nets dealing with unvaccinated players

Though the Knicks have complied with the city’s mandate, it’s a different story across the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Nets still have several unvaccinated players, general manager Sean Marks said earlier this week, which would currently prohibit them from participating with the team.

Marks declined to say who on the team was still not vaccinated, but he still sounded confident that the players would have it figured out for training camp.

"I won't get into who it is, but we feel confident in the following several days before camp everybody would be allowed to participate and so forth," Marks said.

As to whether that means they would get vaccinated or try to find an exemption, Marks only said, “correct.”

Andrew Wiggins currently can’t play home games for Warriors

The other impacted team under current mandates is the Golden State Warriors, as San Francisco has a similar mandate to New York City.

That order could prohibit Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins from playing home games at the Chase Center.

Wiggins is reportedly still unvaccinated, something he was apparently going to try and get a religious exemption from doing. Even if he does receive such an exemption, the San Francisco Department of Public Health said Friday that it would still require “players” and all guests over 12 to be vaccinated in order to enter the arena.

"At large and mega indoor events, all patrons 12 and older must be vaccinated at this time," the statement reads. "Under the current order, if unvaccinated, they cannot enter indoor areas regardless of the reason they are unvaccinated and cannot test out of this requirement even if they have a medical or religious exemption. This same rule applies to performers and players employed by the host at large and mega indoor events who are covered by the vaccination requirements of the Health Order."