This is about basketball. Not about politics.
Acknowledging that: The Dallas Mavericks, NBA sources tell DallasBasketball.com, want to trade Trey Burke. And in addition to the usual trade complications and stumbling blocks that might come with any trade idea, in play here is the fact that Burke, who has demonstrated himself to be at times an explosive scoring point guard, is still "studying'' whether he wants to vaccinated against COVID.
Medical facts? We won't go there.
Transactional facts? We know for a fact that in the NFL, if you are a street free agent looking for work, the first question prospective employers ask you is, "Are you vaccinated against COVID?'' And if your answer is unsatisfactory, said NFL team will not sign you.
The NBA? New head coach Jason Kidd confirmed the team’s thinking during Media Day: Vaccinated players are the thing. Kidd said the Mavericks are in the “90th percentile” in terms of vaccination.
That 90 percent does not include Trey Burke.
We can make sharp, smart and snarky jokes about exactly what "research'' Burke plans to do that would supersede what an army of doctors have already done, but again ...
No politics here. Just basketball.
Trey Burke has put himself in a precarious position.
The Mavs would have to eat money to release him, but why would they retain a non-vaccinated "threat''? What is the down-side cost of that?
So, let newcomer Frank Ntilikina serve as the new deep backup to Luka Doncic at the 1, and swap out Burke. But to whom? Exactly which NBA team wants to swap to Dallas some value for a third-string point guard ... with a non-vaxx status that might render him unavailable?
Burke, to his credit, has rejuvenated his career as a creator and scorer. But medicine - and, if you wish, politics, stand in the way of a trade.
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