Silver: we want to skip the vaccine line to educate the public

[CelticsElite]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30742821/nba-talking-vaccinating-players-psa

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday the league has discussed having players receive COVID-19 vaccines to educate and influence the public regarding their safety and effectiveness.

"There have been discussions. It's something we're particularly focused on," Silver said at a virtual conference hosted by Sportico.

"In the African American community, there's been enormously disparate impact from COVID ... but now, somewhat perversely, there's been enormous resistance [to vaccinations] in the African American community for understandable historical reasons. ... If that resistance continues, it would be very much a double whammy to the Black community, because the only way out of this pandemic is to get vaccinated."

[Amonkey]

In a way, this is a lose lose situation because the public perception of skipping the line will be there very much like politicians got some backlash for getting vaccinated. At the same time, there is a need to educate the public about the vaccine so I can see how it is beneficial. I do believe that a portion of the people that will complain will be the anti-NBA people anyway so the demographics might not be completely compatible.

[hpantazo]

This would not be a good look for the NBA while so many people who are in the higher risk categories are waiting for vaccines and vaccinations are progressing so slowly.

You only need a handful of people getting the vaccine to promote awareness, which we already have with several celebrities including Kareem Abdul-Jabar who is a higher risk older person.

Have a few more older, retired players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan get it. That's more than enough to promote awareness.

You don't need the entire NBA of young athletes in their prime skipping the line to promote awareness. If they do it, the NFL, MLB, NHL will all want to do the same.


The NBA started off setting the bar for covid response with the bubble and has been completely downhill ever since.

[Neurotic Guy]

Not sure how quantifiable it would be, but the investment in vaccinating 500-1000 players/coaches might be well worth it if it really has an impact on getting people to trust the vaccine.  If they could somehow prove the likelihood of such impact, it's a relatively small price to pay.  Thinking strategically about who to vaccinate first makes a ton of sense to me.   

[Roy H.]

I’d rather see athletes get it than politicians.  At least the athletes admit that it’s “just a business”, unlike the politicians lining their own pockets and toying with their constituents’ lives and livelihoods.

[RJ87]

The NBA started off setting the bar for covid response with the bubble and has been completely downhill ever since.

That's a fair criticism, but replicating the bubble on a full season scale never seemed to be on the table. Which is understandable when you consider the cost to the league and the fact the NBPA would've pushed back hard against it.

[Amonkey]

I’d rather see athletes get it than politicians.  At least the athletes admit that it’s “just a business”, unlike the politicians lining their own pockets and toying with their constituents’ lives and livelihoods.

I think it depends. If a politician has been advocating for the right practices and been promoting masks and all these prevention methods and is using the vaccine as a way to educate the public, then I see no problem with them skipping the line. However, if it's somebody that has denied science and placed more hurtles to control the pandemic, then all of a sudden wanting a vaccine, then that is slimey.

[Neurotic Guy]

This would not be a good look for the NBA while so many people who are in the higher risk categories are waiting for vaccines and vaccinations are progressing so slowly.

You only need a handful of people getting the vaccine to promote awareness, which we already have with several celebrities including Kareem Abdul-Jabar who is a higher risk older person.

Have a few more older, retired players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan get it. That's more than enough to promote awareness.

You don't need the entire NBA of young athletes in their prime skipping the line to promote awareness. If they do it, the NFL, MLB, NHL will all want to do the same.


The NBA started off setting the bar for covid response with the bubble and has been completely downhill ever since.

Consider that if the vaccine had been rolled out to the NBA a month ago and NBA players would now be playing... and not getting infected.  It would be some very clear evidence of the efficacy of the vaccine and probably could have had a substantial impact.

[hpantazo]

This would not be a good look for the NBA while so many people who are in the higher risk categories are waiting for vaccines and vaccinations are progressing so slowly.

You only need a handful of people getting the vaccine to promote awareness, which we already have with several celebrities including Kareem Abdul-Jabar who is a higher risk older person.

Have a few more older, retired players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan get it. That's more than enough to promote awareness.

You don't need the entire NBA of young athletes in their prime skipping the line to promote awareness. If they do it, the NFL, MLB, NHL will all want to do the same.


The NBA started off setting the bar for covid response with the bubble and has been completely downhill ever since.

Consider that if the vaccine had been rolled out to the NBA a month ago and NBA players would now be playing... and not getting infected.  It would be some very clear evidence of the efficacy of the vaccine and probably could have had a substantial impact.

Possibly, but that didn't happen, and giving it to the NBA players now, after so many of them got infected, will look like the NBA is trying to skip the line to get their players vaccinated so that they can avoid canceling games and losing revenue with the excuse of educating the public while so many front line workers , elderly and high risk folks are waiting for their shots and some will die while waiting.

[hpantazo]

I’d rather see athletes get it than politicians.  At least the athletes admit that it’s “just a business”, unlike the politicians lining their own pockets and toying with their constituents’ lives and livelihoods.

I agree, but the CDC priority categories still take precedence. If a politician is over 65 and has one or more of the high risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, etc. then they should get it first. Pro athletes are at the bottom of the list because they represent one of the lowest risk populations. If you want to have celebrities advocate for the vaccine to promote awareness, there are plenty of celebrities in the higher risk groups that can do that, across all racial and cultural demographics.

[nickagneta]

The NBA very publicly declared their players would not jump the line to get the vaccine. This was pretty obviously the proper stance to take, given the players and league promoting that solving the wealth inequality issues that lead to problems in social justice is extremely important.

But Covid starts spreading through the league like wildfire, games are being called off, practice facilities shuttered and suddenly the NBA decides it's a good idea for the players to jump the line to get the vaccine in order to promote the need for the African American community get vaccinated.

What a load of crap!

The NBA wants their players to jump that vaccination line to assure a proper season and season outcome, and so, minimize the amount of massive financial loss that the league is going to incur this season. I find their publicly declared motivation to change this stance to be completely and utterly false and extremely insulting to the intelligence of their fans.

[CelticsElite]

The NBA very publicly declared their players would not jump the line to get the vaccine. This was pretty obviously the proper stance to take, given the players and league promoting that solving the wealth inequality issues that lead to problems in social justice is extremely important.

But Covid starts spreading through the league like wildfire, games are being called off, practice facilities shuttered and suddenly the NBA decides it's a good idea for the players to jump the line to get the vaccine in order to promote the need for the African American community get vaccinated.

What a load of crap!

The NBA wants their players to jump that vaccination line to assure a proper season and season outcome, and so, minimize the amount of massive financial loss that the league is going to incur this season. I find their publicly declared motivation to change this stance to be completely and utterly false and extremely insulting to the intelligence of their fans.

exactly. It’s quite obvious the motivation here by nba

[Moranis]

Um, they never said they wanted to skip the line. 

"Several public health officials -- and this is operating state by state right now -- have suggested there would be a real public health benefit to getting some very high-profile African Americans vaccinated to demonstrate to the larger community that it is safe and effective," Silver said.

"At the appropriate time, whenever that is and whether that's directed federally by NIH or CDC or ultimately state-by-state programs, we think there's real value in our players demonstrating to a broader community how important it is to get vaccinated."

"Anything we will do will be fully transparent and in conjunction with public health authorities, so there's no sense whatsoever that there's some favoritism going on here," Silver said. "Only be done if public health officials determine on balance it was the right time to vaccinate our players."

That isn't about skipping the line.  It is about getting vaccinated when deemed appropriate by medical professionals. 

I really wish people would actually read the articles they post before making false heading posts.  Would save a bunch of time.

[ChillyWilly]

I didn't want to read anyone's replies so not to influence my own initial thought and it's this.

I'm a weirdo when it comes to Drs. maybe I wear a tinfoil hat who knows but I'm definitely not the first guy in line to inject myself with something. If NBA got shots and things went smoothly I'd be convince to get the shot without much hesitation. I think the NBA is a great proving ground as there is lots of travel, touching and close contact. Anyone objecting to athletes getting the shots first just like to argue for argue sake. Anyone who wants it will get it.

[Atzar]

I would note that, for the skeptical among us, seeing a tangible positive impact from the vaccination could make a difference in getting more people to do the right thing.

The league has struggled through absences and cancellations through the first quarter of its season.  If player vaccination were to lead to a noticeable decrease in cases and issues throughout the league, that could be a very useful example to have when trying to convince people to get the vaccine.