Vaccination is not mandatory but 90 percent of players already are, NBA Players Association executive director Michele Roberts told Yahoo Sports in July.

ESPN said that, as per the NBA's tentative health and safety protocols released to teams on Tuesday, vaccinated players will only be tested if they show symptoms or are a close contact of a positive case.

Unvaccinated players will have to undergo daily testing prior to entering a team facility, participating in team-organized activities, or interacting with other players and coaches.

Among the other restrictions, unvaccinated players will not be allowed to dine in the same room as other players and must be given a locker as distant as possible from other players.

Unvaccinated players will also have to remain at their residence, or the team hotel during road trips, outside game time except for team and essential activities such as taking children to school or buying groceries.

They will also have to quarantine for seven days if they are a close contact while vaccinated players will only have to do so in "unusual circumstances".

The report said face masks were mandatory for all players for the 2021-2022 season, which starts on Oct. 19.

Four-time NBA champion LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers said he was initially "very skeptical" about the vaccine but decided to take it after doing his research.

"I don't talk about other people and what they should do," James said.

"I don't think I personally should get involved in what other people do for their bodies and livelihoods.

"I know that I was very skeptical about it but after doing my own research I felt like it was best suited for me and my family and my friends."

Meanwhile, there is a divide between players and everyone else in the NBA when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, and some are not happy about it. The NBA mandated that all team employees must be vaccinated — except for players.

Mandatory vaccinations for players have been a non-starter with the National Basketball Players Association. Though the league has instituted strict protocols for unvaccinated players, there is lingering tension on staffs, ESPN reported.

"Everyone who is vaccinated should be pissed at those who aren't," a veteran assistant coach told ESPN.

"Not requiring NBA players to be vaccinated is horses –.”

Protocols for unvaxxed players could include eating and traveling apart from vaccinated teammates as well as being located in a different part of the locker room.

Said one strength and conditioning coach: "They need to hold the players to the same standards they hold us. This is a disease that doesn't differentiate between a player and a staff member.”