In an atrocious lapse of judgement, the Golden State Warriors allowed the unvaccinated forward to address the media unmasked and indoors. Wiggins' comments promptly made the situation even worse.

Today is Golden State Warriors Media Day, a typically newsless and anodyne affair that mostly just serves to eat up time on a basic cable regional sports network channel. Warriors Media Day started at 1 p.m. PT. And within minutes of the event's start, the Warriors had a public relations disaster on their hands.

Proudly anti-vaxx forward Andrew Wiggins addressed reporters indoors and without a mask. He did not cover his mouth or nose with a face covering, but Wiggins certainly stuck his foot in his mouth. And as noted above, several reporters were none too pleased with the arrangement of the unvaccinated Wiggins speaking maskless.

SFist was not present, we only watched the livestream. And sure, it’s likely that reporters were more than six feet from Wiggins. But his vaccination status is the number one issue for the team right now, as Wiggins cannot play home games in San Francisco under the city’s current vaccination guidelines for indoor events. SFGate reported Friday that the SF Department of Public Health rejected Wiggins’ request for a religious exemption, and hours later, the NBA also denied the same request from him.

Wiggins did not actually disclose whether he was vaccinated, but his answers made this obvious. “It’s none of your business is what it comes down to. I don’t ask you guys what you believe is right or wrong,” he said. “Who are you guys why I have explain what I believe, or you know, what’s right or what’s wrong in my mind? We are two totally different people. What you think is not what I think, what I think is not what you think.”

Wiggins will not be paid for any home games he misses over his vaccination status. “I know,” he said when this was pointed out. “It’s my problem, not yours.”

Wiggins was clearly nervous, defensive, and wishing to be elsewhere through his brief 15-minute address. “The only thing the media has done is make it bigger than it has to be,” he told reporters. “I’ll say my side of everything when I’m ready.”

Athletes botch interviews all the time, it’s no big deal. But Wiggins being allowed to speak indoors and maskless clearly rubbed a few reporters the wrong way, and the NBA probably needs to move on this with their small handful of unvaccinated players. Notice above how Draymond Green was given a pass to blow off Media Day with a “personal excuse,” even though he was seen partying with LeBron in a luxury suite at an NFL game yesterday. And there’s nothing wrong with that! Media Day is a meaningless event! But if you make unflattering news at Media Day, you're doing it wrong.

It’s not huge news if Wiggins embarrasses himself with personal comments. But it is news if the team’s kid-gloves approach with Wiggins causes someone in the media, medical staff, or support staff to suffer an on-the-job infection over Wiggins’s “private” matter.

Related: Welp, the Warriors Have an Anti-Vaxxer, and This Is Officially a Problem [SFist]

Screenshot via Youtube