Kurtenbach: There’s no good excuse for pro athletes to be unvaccinated against COVID

There’s a simple question every Niners player — nay, every professional athlete — has to ask themselves these days:

Do they want to play?

If they do, there’s an easy way to better ensure they will — they can take the COVID-19 vaccine.

In some folks’ minds, the pandemic is over. For some, it never existed in the first place. But COVID is still with us, and on Wednesday, Chris Paul became the latest star athlete to reportedly test positive.  He is in the NBA health and safety protocol. The Suns did not say why Paul was in the protocol.

The NBA announced Wednesday afternoon that one player tested positive for the virus within the past week but, as per usual, did not name the player.

Paul is reportedly vaccinated, and some athletes might see Paul’s positive test as an example of why not to take the vaccine.

“It didn’t do him any good, why should I put the vaccine in my body?”

This is the wrong way to look it, though.

If Paul is, indeed, vaccinated, it’s far more likely that he’ll be able to return to the court without missing any time. The Suns have already advanced to the Western Conference finals, and they won’t start until next week.

This is a win for vaccines. What would have happened had he not had the protection vaccinations provide? His best-ever chance at a title might have been upended.

I’ve also seen and heard professional athletes across the country claiming that they’re not vaccinated because they need more information.

“I don’t want to be part of the experiment,” they’ll say.

But it’s too late. They’re already part of the experiment. They’re the control group.

It’s true that no vaccine is perfect and variants create new problems for them, but they significantly lower your chances of getting COVID, and they nearly eliminate any chance of serious illness.

Everyone is rolling the dice if they go out and about. The risk is higher, of course, for professional athletes who are traveling all over the country and soon, the world. But vaccines load those dice.

Of course, golfer Jon Rahm waited too long to play with loaded dice. He had a six-shot lead after three rounds at the Memorial when his COVID test from earlier in the day came back positive. Rahm had waited to be vaccinated — he was still in the two-week window post-shot — and that delay likely cost him a win and millions of dollars.

Then there are the physical downsides of getting COVID without any vaccine protection.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum is 23 years old, and he contracted COVID in January. Since then, he’s had to use an inhaler before games.

“I never took an inhaler before,” Tatum told reporters in April. “So that’s something different. I for sure feel better now than I did a month ago.”

I’m still yet to hear a good reason as to why a professional athlete — or anyone, for that matter — wouldn’t take the vaccine. That’s why it was so jarring when Kyle Shanahan told the media last week that the Niners were nowhere near the NFL’s 85-percent vaccination standard for relaxed protocols.

“I think we got 52 guys who have our vaccines done,” Shanahan said last Wednesday. “We need 85 percent. I don’t have a calculator on me, but I think it’s 77 or something of the 90 that we have. So I’m hopeful we’ll get there. I think we will.”

The reasons to get the shot became even more compelling — if not compulsory — on Wednesday. Per NFL Network, vaccinated individuals will not have to test for COVID daily or wear masks at the team facility or when traveling. They also won’t have to distance in the facility and they’ll be allowed to do money-making ventures off the field.

Non-vaccinated folks will be tested every day, will have to wear a mask all the time, will have to remain socially distant, and will have to isolate after high-risk exposure to COVID, even if they don’t test positive.

The NFL has been known to shadow ban, but this is the league passing a shadow requirement.

Basically, for vaccinated folks, the pandemic will be over in the NFL. For the non-vaccinated, it’ll be like last season, all over again — only this time you’ll have to look at all the things you’re missing.

And remember, the NFL ruthless, especially if you’re a player on the bottom half of the roster.

You have to be tested to test positive and a positive test means that you go home for days. If it means you’re missing a game, that might mean the day you test positive is their last day with the team. It’s harsh, but it’s reality.

Or you can take a shot that nearly 1 billion people around the world have already taken.

The 38 non-vaccinated players Shanahan referenced last week have more than a month before training camp starts.

That’s ample time to answer what should an easy question.

Do you want to play? If you do, then roll up your sleeve.