The NBA will be unable to enact a COVID-19 vaccine mandate as the union has messaged that any proposal that mandates vaccination remains a "non-starter."

The NBA and NBPA continue to negotiate aspects of COVID-related protocols and procedures for the upcoming season.

NBA referees and most NBA staff are mandated to be vaccinated.

Roughly 85 percent of players are vaccinated, a league spokesman recently said, and, in a preliminary memo obtained by ESPN in early September.