Andrew Wiggins will soon have a championship ring to show off, but he still isn’t pleased that he had to get a COVID-19 vaccine prior to the start of the 2021-22 season.

Wiggins was a key cog as the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title but his status was up in the air prior to the season when he was unvaccinated.

He was facing the same situation as Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving — a local ordinance that wouldn’t allow him to play in home games.

Wiggins applied for a religious exemption with the NBA but was denied, and the San Francisco Department of Public Health added that it wouldn’t consider exemptions of any type.

Wiggins relented and received the vaccine — the Johnson & Johnson single-dose shot — shortly before the start of the season. At the time, he said he was “forced” to get the vaccine.

And now?

“I still wish I didn’t get (vaccinated), to be honest with you,” Wiggins told FanSided.

After Wiggins got the shot, he enjoyed a solid season and was named an All-Star for the first time in his eight-year career.

He averaged 17.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 73 games and made a career-best 157 3-point shots.

In 22 postseason games, Wiggins averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds as the Warriors sailed to the title, defeating the Boston Celtics in six games in the NBA Finals.

“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,” Wiggins said. “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.'”

The 27-year-old Wiggins is entering the final season of a five-year, $147 million deal. He is slated to make $33.6 million next season.

–Field Level Media