New York Knicks Roster Is Fully Vaccinated, Players Won’t Miss Games Due To NYC Mandate

The New York Knicks don’t have to worry about any players missing games due to the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The team’s entire roster has been vaccinated, according to general manager Scott Perry.

Local regulations in New York City and San Francisco won’t allow unvaccinated players on the Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors to compete in home games. While players can play if they're vaccinated, they would still miss games if they came down with a breakthrough case of COVID-19.

The Warriors and Nets are in danger of not having every player available for their home games. Warriors starter Andrew Wiggins is unvaccinated, according to reports, and Nets general manager Sean Marks told reporters earlier in the week that not every member of Brooklyn’s roster is vaccinated.

NYK GM Scott Perry says all Knicks players are vaccinated. Perry says the organization is proud of how seriously the players approached COVID-19 and credits the team medical staff. Per NYC mandate, Knicks and Nets need to be vaccinated to play/practice in the city.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) September 24, 2021

“Regarding if they could play today, I can’t comment on who could play and so forth,” Marks said. “There would obviously be a couple people missing from that picture — I won’t get into who it is — but we feel confident in the following several days before camp everybody would be allowed to participate.”

The Knicks are coming off their best season in eight years. Following seven straight seasons with a losing record, New York earned the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed with a 41-31 record.

The Atlanta Hawks eliminated the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs in five games.

“I'm not sure if there's going to be an issue or not,” Knicks star Julius Randle told SNY last week when asked about unvaccinated players potentially missing games. “I haven't thought about it. Everybody has their own preferences on what they should do or not, or what’s safe or not. And I get it, I understand it. I get both sides. Hopefully there’s a way that it won’t cause any issue and there’s a way that, if you’re a Knick fan, you can come to games and safely watch games.”

Randle finished eighth in the 2021 NBA MVP race. The power forward won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award with averages of 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.

The Knicks begin the preseason with a home game against the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 5. New York opens the regular season on Oct. 20 with a matchup against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden.