Thybulle Confirms Vaccination Status, Explains Decision Ahead of Playoffs

When the Philadelphia 76ers geared up for their Thursday night matchup against the Toronto Raptors, the team shocked many when a specific member of the roster

When the Philadelphia 76ers geared up for their Thursday night matchup against the Toronto Raptors, the team shocked many when a specific member of the roster popped up on the injury report listed as out due to being "ineligible to play" in Toronto. 

As Toronto still won't allow unvaccinated players to play at the Scotiabank Arena, Sixers' third-year wing Matisse Thybulle has been deemed ineligible to play. Although reports in the past have hinted that Thybulle was vaccinated, his playing status for the Raptors matchup last Thursday proved otherwise.

Following Philadelphia's regular-season finale against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night, the Sixers realized their first-round opponent would be the Raptors. When asked whether anything has changed in Thybulle's playing status for road games in Toronto or not, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned that the team expects to play without Thybulle for Games 3, 4, and 6 if necessary.

Shortly after Rivers revealed that Thybulle was expected to be a part-time player in the first round of the postseason, Thybulle addressed the media for the first time to discuss the situation.

Thybulle's Explanation

"I made this choice, and I thought I could keep it to myself, I can keep it private, but people are always gonna wonder why," Thybulle said. "I was raised in a holistic household where anti-vax is not like a term that was ever used. It's a weird term that's kind of been thrown around just to label people. We grew up with Chinese medicine and naturopathic doctors. Just with that upbringing, coming into the situation, I felt like I had a solid foundation of medical resources that could serve me beyond what this vaccine could do for me. As things escalate, and as this situation has played out, I've obviously had to reconsider and look at it differently."

At this point, Thybulle is not considered to be fully vaccinated, but the young veteran mentioned that he received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine during the playoffs last season.

"It got to the point last year during the playoffs where I did actually consider getting vaccinated and went through with getting the first dose," he continued. "At that point, I was under the impression that getting vaccinated would mean I could not get the disease and transmit it to other people. I felt like if I'm going to be a part of society in the position I'm in, I need to do what's right for the greater good. That argument of the greater good held a lot of weight for me. 

"As things progressed, as the virus has changed in many different ways, it just showed that wasn't the case anymore. Even while being vaccinated, you could still spread the disease. For me, in my reasoning, it felt like getting vaccinated was not something I needed to do to protect other people and was something that I would have to do to protect myself. With that being considered and the holistic background of my upbringing and the way I view medicine in general, I felt like I was secure in, not treating myself, but going to the doctors that I have to treat COVID if I did get it. And in the case that I did, I was able to go about it in my holistic way. I mean, I'm able to sit here today healthy and okay because of it." 

With Thybulle ineligible to be a full-time participant to start the playoffs, the third-year veteran admits the situation is difficult for not only himself but his teammates and coaches as well. While the situation is overall disappointing for Thybulle and the Sixers, nothing can be done to change the circumstances at this point.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.