Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says unvaccinated NBA players shouldn't be allowed to play

As the NBA prepares for its third straight pandemic-affected season, player vaccinations have quickly turned into a hot-button issue.

The conversation prompted basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to go public with his stance that every NBA player should be vaccinated.

"They don't have to explain anything, but if they don't want to get vaccinated, I don't think they should be allowed to play," Abdul-Jabbar told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton on Sunday.

While recent reports say that 95 per cent of players have received at least one shot — that's more than the 85 per cent of eligible Canadians and nearly 65 per cent of Americans in the same boat — a vocal minority in basketball is making waves.

Canadian Andrew Wiggins was among the loudest when his application for a medical exemption to skip the COVID-19 vaccine was refused by the league.

Wiggins, a Golden State Warriors forward, won't be eligible to play home games until he is fully vaccinated, per a local mandate in San Francisco. He recently said he planned to keep "fighting for what [he] believe[s]."

Meanwhile, all-stars Kyrie Irving and Bradley Beal also raised questions about the shots, revealing that they too were unvaccinated.