One of the challenges expected to arise in the NBA Orlando bubble is getting players to obey safety protocols, and foremost is the wearing of face mask inside the Disney World Resort. Non-compliance to the rule will certainly lead to disciplinary measures, league officials assured.

The importance of wearing a mask was again stressed by the NBA through formal communication sent to team owners on Sunday, in which it was emphasized that safety is a top priority in the bubble city.

Picking up on the Twitter posts of The New York Times' Marc Stein, Yahoo Sports reported that team owners have been reminded to enforce the mask-wearing protocol. All teams were warned too that violation of the order will be punished accordingly.

"Teams were also reminded today that penalties for non-compliance on mask-wearing at the NBA Bubble range from warnings to fines, suspensions and potentially even removal from campus," Stein was reported as saying.

It was understood that owners have been advised to reinforce the safety rule by conducting a meeting with their respective players. The expulsion threat, termed by the NBA as enhanced discipline, will only be applied to repeat offenders.

The advisory was sent out in light of the reported breaches committed by some NBA players in the past weeks. A case in point was Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers who earned a warning last July for not wearing a mask.

The latest incident involved Terence Davis of the Toronto Raptors, and the two have one thing in common, according to Clutch Points. Both Howard and Davis are COVID-19 conspiracy theorists with the former not hiding his stance against vaccination.

The stern reminder from the NBA served as a strong statement that the league means business and wants the bubble city setup to work.

It's a good thing that to date, the safety protocols appeared to be serving the purpose of keeping the coronavirus out of the bubble city. The last update from the NBA indicated that no players were found positive in the new round of testing, which should tell that the rules designed are working.

Yahoo said the regular testing and the NBA players and personnel wearing masks and other covering protections are crucial for the bubble setup to succeed. That's because Disney employees who interact with players and other NBA personnel regularly are allowed to leave the resort after their shift.

The NBA is hoping that the strict safety protocols in place will be able to check the possibility of the virus getting to the bubble, which in turn will ensure that the Orlando games will be completed as planned.