I understand why pro athletes like James are extremely reluctant to get into other players’ medical affairs. And one key reason players have more power in the NBA than in any other major American sports league is they have generally stuck together on important issues. Last year, after police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back, the Milwaukee Bucks opted out of playing a scheduled game—and other teams joined the Bucks’ protest by calling off their own games.

Pro basketball has stopped short of issuing a vaccine mandate. But like the NFL, the NBA is trying to essentially force vaccinations by making life more difficult for unvaccinated players, who must comply with strict, demanding safety protocols.

But if the league’s unvaccinated players are going to use their proverbial microphone to showcase their own lack of information—and potentially threaten their team’s ability to compete—then high-profile players should use their own platform to call out their teammates. The players have a responsibility to protect the product, because they’re in a financial partnership with the NBA. By protecting one another, the players are also protecting the league that they’ve built. A little bit of public peer pressure wouldn’t hurt.

As long as the NBA and its players characterize getting vaccinated as a purely personal matter, they will be giving a pass to those who are making what is ultimately a selfish decision not to get their shots.