Some team officials are hopeful the NBA can one day, perhaps soon, can reach a point where players who test positive for COVID-19 will be allowed to continue playing, according to reporting from Baxter Holmes of ESPN.

There is a sense of frustration that some players who have tested positive but are asymptomatic cannot play.

Sources tell ESPN that the NBA is mindful of the fact that those who are asymptomatic can still pass the virus.

The league currently has 97 percent of its players vaccinated despite not having a mandate. 

"We are pretty much defenseless now -- not against getting sick but against transmission and contraction," said one Western Conference head athletic trainer.