Shaquille O’Neal shared his thoughts on COVID VAX mandates, saying “you shouldn’t be forced to take something you don’t want.“
QUICK FACTS:
- The former NBA Hall of Famer opened up on his podcast, telling his listeners they should not be forced into taking the vaccine if they didn’t want to get it.
- Debating with his co-hosts Nischelle Turner and Anthony Adams, Shaq stated that no one should ever be forced between getting a shot and losing their job.
- “But it’s just, people don’t want to take it, and you shouldn’t be forced to take something you don’t want,” he said.
- Turner disagreed with Shaq saying if a worker doesn’t want to comply with company mandates, they shouldn’t be able to hold their job.
SHAQ ON MANDATES CAUSING WORKERS TO LOSE THEIR JOB:
“I’m with you on the rules because I’m a rules guy. But I do feel sympathetic towards people who have to make that kind of decision.”
BACKGROUND:
- This new stance is a far cry from Shaq’s position last fall when he criticized Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving for refusing to get the shot.
- “I try not to belittle another man’s opinion. However, let me tell you what I think. In this game of ours, sometimes you have to think about other people rather than yourself,” Shaq said in September 2021. “…if you’re on my team and you can’t play home games, I don’t want you around. Like, we have a chance to win and if you ain’t on the program, go somewhere else, period.”
- The former Los Angeles Laker center called on Irving and other players who refused the vaccine to “think about the overall picture,” despite the concerns surrounding the jab.
- “The day I decided it wasn’t all about me and it’s about us is the day I started winning and really started dominating,” Shaq said. “I understand the issues and all that. But I took the vaccine because I’m not trying to get my mother sick, or my sister or my brother or people around me.”
