NBA legend Charles Barkley spoke his mind recently, against those who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine, an increasingly controversial topic, so it seems. After clarifying that he is in fact vaccinated, Barkley reportedly stated to CNBC, “everybody should be vaccinated. Period.” He went on to say, “The only people who are not vaccinated are just assholes.”
Charles Barkley’s comments were made in response to the reports of the climbing COVID-19 infections, due to the Delta variant. While making his concerns known, the Hall of Famer went on to speak about the guidelines that professional sports leagues have put in place to ensure a safe and responsible season.
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The former Houston Rockets player remained vocal that sports leagues are professional workplaces as well, which is why the COVID-19 vaccines should be mandatory. “There’s sh-t you can’t do at work and there’s sh-t that you have to do at work,” Barkley said. “So every workplace has rules and I think one of the rules [should be] that guys have to be vaccinated,” he stated.
Presently, each sports association has different rules when it comes to COVID-19 safety measures. The NFL’s regulations required vaccination for all Tier 1 staff, including coaches, front-office executives, equipment managers, and scouts. The NFL players are exempt from those rules, while the MLB and NBA have not made Coronavirus vaccines mandatory either.
Charles Barkley concluded his statements with saying, “Can you imagine if one of these guys that are not vaccinated, if they get one of these players’ kids, wives, girlfriends, moms and dads sick and they die over some unnecessary conspiracy bulls–t? I think that would be tragic.”
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