Vaccine mandates have been a hot topic since they began rolling out in the late summer of 2021. Former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal has been among the chorus of celebrity voices in favor of the vaccine in the last several months, and their enforced regulations both in and outside of the league. But now, Shaq is singing a different tune.
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While he remains pro-vax, he expressed new sentiments around the mandates on a recent episode of The Big Podcast With Shaq. In conversation with co-hosts Nischelle Turner and Anthony “Spice” Adams, he asserted that individuals shouldn’t have to choose between getting vaccinated and keeping their jobs.
“Look, I encourage everybody to be safe and take care of your family, I do,” O’Neal said. “But there’s still some people that don’t wanna take it. And you shouldn’t have to be forced to take something you don’t want.”
Shaq also expressed that he feels “sympathetic towards people who have to make that kind of decision.” To this statement, Turner responded:
“I don’t. Not when you’re putting other people at risk.”
Shaq’s new attitude is surprising many, as he was adamantly opposed to the stance of Kyrie Irving and his refusal to get vaccinated. In both September and January, Shaq spoke publicly on his podcast about the Nets guard’s decision to remain unvaccinated.
“In this game of ours, sometimes you have to think about other people rather than yourself. Now, Kyrie has his views. He has his opinions. I’m not going to knock that, but he does have an obligation, because he took that 200 million.”
“... But if you’re on my team and you can’t play home games, I don’t want you around,” he continued. “Like, we have a chance to win and if you ain’t on the program, go somewhere else, period.”
Irving’s decision not to get the vaccine has kept him from playing in Nets home games due to the NYC mandate that all professional athletes must be vaccinated.
Fans now wonder however, if an apology is owed to Irving after Shaq now seems to side with personal choice when it comes to vaccination status. After all, he should know perhaps more than anyone that Irving’s participation in the league is not voluntary, but an employee/employer contract binding relationship. One that he now says, should not sway his decision or that of anyone else in regards to getting the shot.
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