Thybulle Discusses Difficulty of Revealing Vaccination Status to Teammates

Philadelphia 76ers veteran defensive standout Matisse Thybulle shocked many when he missed last Thursday's game against the Toronto Raptors.

With Toronto keeping their strict COVID-19 restrictions in place, preventing unvaccinated players from entering the Scotiabank Arena to play, the Sixers, unfortunately, found out that one of their own was not eligible to compete.

Although it was reported that Thybulle was believed to be vaccinated in the past, the young veteran's absence last week proved that wasn't the case.

And when Thybulle addressed the media following Sunday night's win over the Detroit Pistons, he confirmed that after receiving one dose of the Pfizer vaccine sometime last season, Thybulle decided not to get fully vaccinated.

"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," Thybulle explained. "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 the signs 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 then protect myself."

As Thybulle's vaccination status remains the same following the Sixers' regular-season finale, the Sixers now know they won't have their defensive ace for their entire playoff first-round series against the Toronto Raptors. Instead, Thybulle will only be available to play in the first two games and the fifth and seventh matchups, if required.

The Difficult Part

Being that Thybulle is a primary member of the Sixers' rotation and often a member of the starting lineup due to his defensive value, Philadelphia will definitely take a hit in his absence. After thinking long and hard about his decision, which will affect the Sixers as a team, Thybulle admitted that his decision was not easy.

"That was really hard," he stated. "Like I said, I made this decision a while ago, where this situation I'm facing right now was not a factor. It wasn't a part of any of the decision-making because, at the time, I would be available for my team, and I would be available to play and not restricted in any way to do my job."

Thybulle mentioned that the vaccine was "suggested and offered" to him by the Sixers organization after they were made aware of the situation, but he was never "forced or required" to become fully vaccinated.

"Having had the stance I've had for almost a year now, I just felt like it couldn't be something that I could be forced to do because of rules or regulation changes," he continued. "It just seemed like the right thing for me to just see it through. Unfortunately, the repercussions of that are going to be me missing games and not being there for my teammates. I've talked to them, and obviously, from fans to coaches, to front office to teammates, there are people who are upset and people who don't understand, but ultimately, I've been lucky enough to have them voice that they may disagree, but they still support me in my decision making. That being said, I'm still gonna be there and give 110-percent every time I'm available to be on the court."

When the Sixers begin their playoff series against the Raptors next Saturday night, Thybulle will be available. When he's not on the court when Philadelphia pays a visit up North, Thybulle believes his team is more than capable enough to get the job done without his help on the defensive end.

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