Warriors star regrets getting COVID vaccine

February 23, 2020; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Andrew Wiggins (22) warms up before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Wiggins had his first All-Star season this year and helped the Golden State Warriors win a championship, but he still has one major regret — getting vaccinated.

Wiggins did not want to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He chose to do so to avoid a situation like the one we saw with Kyrie Irving, where the Brooklyn Nets star was unable to play for much of the season. Wiggins applied for a religious exemption but was denied by the NBA, so he finally got the vaccine in early October.

Despite all of his success, Wiggins told Fansided’s Mark Carman this week that he regrets the difficult decision he made.

“I still wish I didn’t get [vaccinated], to be honest with you,” Wiggins said, via ESPN.com. “I did it, and I was an All-Star this year and champion, so that was the good part, just not missing out on the year, the best year of my career. But for my body, I just don’t like putting all that stuff in my body, so I didn’t like that and I didn’t like that it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t like that it was either get this or don’t play.”

Wiggins started 73 games for the Warriors during the regular season. He averaged 17.2 points per game. He then played a huge role in the playoffs, and you could make the argument that Golden State would not have won a title without him. Most notably, the former No. 1 overall pick carried the Warriors to a win over the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals with 26 points and 13 rebounds. That performance came after he had 17 points and 16 rebounds in a Game 4 win to help the Warriors even the series at 2-2.

The Warriors are obviously happy Wiggins got vaccinated, but it says a lot that the 27-year-old still regrets it even after how well things went for him this year.