The NBA announced on Friday that they have reviewed and denied Andrew Wiggins’ request for a religious exemption from the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s order requiring COVID-19 vaccination for all participants age 12 and older at large indoor events.

This news comes just a day after it was reported the the Warriors had connected Wiggins with a Doctor who understands issues surrounding vaccine hesitancy, which didn’t seem to budge the Golden State star to change his stance.

There is a lot to unpack here.

Essentially, the city of San Francisco has mandated that every member of the Golden State Warriors organization is to be fully vaccinated prior to the start of their season. With the season scheduled to start on October 19, this leaves the warriors in a precarious position as there is a very finite amount of time before the season begins.

In a brief statement to the SFGate Via The San Francisco Department of Public Health, they illustrated the possible consequences Wiggins would be facing should he choose to continue down the path of anti-vaccination saying, “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”.

With all this being said the options become very clear for the star Warriors guard, you either get vaccinated and play or stay unvaccinated and risk losing an entire year’s worth of home game checks and/or being traded to a far less desirable organization.

Wiggins is coming off a career year where he was a key contributor shooting 38% from three, the highest average of his career. Make no mistake about it, Wiggins is a very integral part of this Warriors roster and the very idea of simply trading him with no further questions asked is something I don’t believe the Warriors front office is willing to consider.

The Warriors need an active Wiggins to fulfill their insatiable desire for a fourth ring. But now, the burden of the decision truly falls on the man himself. Ideally, this conflict will end in a manner in which all parties are happy. But as we know, that never seems to be the case with the NBA.

(Photo credit: NBA Photos/Getty Images)