Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Slams John Stockton’s Anti-Vax Sentiments
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is once again defending the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and said fellow NBA Hall-of-Famer John Stockton’s comments about 150 athletes dying from them make other athletes look like “dumb jocks.”
“I think statements like that make the public look upon athletes basically as dumb jocks, for trying to explain away something that is obviously a pandemic,” said Abdul-Jabber, who has been a vaccine advocate since they were rolled out in late 2020, during an interview with CNN.
“I don’t understand anyone saying anything else. It doesn’t make sense what he’s saying,” Abdul-Jabbar told the news network. “This is a preventative measure that has been useful in many different circumstances.”
The 74-year-old also said he remembers children being worried about the “needle lady” when he was a child, in reference to the polio vaccine.
“We have to use common sense and approach this in a way that gets the results we want to get,” he said. “I think John’s reaction to the vaccine is extreme and not based on reality or facts. If John could just check the facts out he would understand that this vaccine is saving lives and preventing people from having serious reactions to the virus. It won’t eliminate the virus overnight, but it will stop people from dying and will stop people from becoming seriously ill.”
Stockton has previously made false statements about the COVID-19 vaccine, claiming 150 athletes died as a result of getting it.
“I think it’s highly recorded now, there’s 150 I believe now, it’s over 100 professional athletes dead — professional athletes — the prime of their life, dropping dead that are vaccinated, right on the pitch, right on the field, right on the court,” Stockton said in an interview with the Spokesman-Review.
Data from the CDC shows that getting the COVID-19 vaccine greatly reduces hospitalization and death rates from the virus, and that unvaccinated people are more likely to become seriously ill or die.
