The National Basketball Players Association wants the 65-game rule to be modified or go away entirely. In a statement obtained by the Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds on Tuesday, it cited Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham’s potential ineligibility for postseason awards as it described the rule as unfair to players:
Cade Cunningham’s potential ineligibility for postseason awards after a career-defining season is a clear indictment of the 65-game rule and yet another example of why it must be abolished or reformed to create an exception for significant injuries. Since its implementation, far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota.
First implemented in the 2023-24 season, the 65-game rule ties award eligibility to games played. The basic framework is simple: To be in the running for Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player and the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams, you must play in at least 65 games.
NBA’s 65-game rule: Where Cade Cunningham, Kawhi Leonard, other award candidates stand
James Herbert
Cunningham, who suffered a collapsed lung last week and must play in five more games to maintain his awards eligibility, is just one of many players who may be affected by the rule this season. On the Pistons alone, there are two other examples.
Isaiah Stewart and Daniss Jenkins could be candidates for All-Defense and Most Improved Player, respectively, but both are already out of the running. (While Stewart and Jenkins could both finish the season with 65-plus games played, many of their appearances would not count. In this context, a “game” requires playing at least 20 minutes, though each player is allowed to count a maximum of two additional games in which he logs more than 15 and fewer than 20 minutes.)
Stewart told CBS Sports this month that he was “pissed off” about the rule last season and had reached out to the NBPA about it. He said that the NBPA agreed that the rule hurts deserving award candidates. Tuesday’s statement confirms that.
The 65-game rule, which was collectively bargained in 2023, includes an exception for some players who suffer late-season injuries. The exception, however, does not help Cunningham. To qualify for the exception, the player has to have played in at least 62 regular-season games (and at least 85% of his team’s regular-season games) and then suffered a season-ending injury.
Cunningham got hurt five minutes into his 61st game, and the injury is not believed to be season-ending. To meet the 65-game mark, he will have to return to the lineup on April 4 and play in all five of Detroit’s remaining games (but he could, in theory, play between 15 and 20 minutes in two of them).
Potential adjustments to the 65-game rule
Along with the Player Participation Policy (PPP), the 65-game rule was designed to disincentivize load management. In effect, though, it has warped the end-of-season awards races and taken away voters’ ability to weigh players’ games and minutes totals as they see fit.
If the league isn’t prepared to trash it entirely, here are some ideas for reform (beyond simply making an exception for cases like Cunningham’s):
- Lower the quota. Maybe 58 games — 70% of the season — makes more sense. That’s the requirement for statistical league leaders.
- Lower the minimum-minute requirement. The weird Donte DiVincenzo situation in 2024 wouldn’t have occurred if games of 10-plus minutes counted. Stewart would have been awards-eligible last season, too.
- Ease the consequences. Instead of removing players who don’t meet the games-played requirement from the ballots entirely, there could be restrictions on their eligibility — maybe voters aren’t allowed to rank them first or second for any award or put them on the All-NBA and All-Defensive First Teams, for example.
Cunningham is not the only MVP candidate who could end up missing the cut this season, by the way. Victor Wembanyama has only two games of wiggle room, and Nikola Jokić and Kawhi Leonard each have just a one-game buffer. Anthony Edwards, who is sidelined with right knee inflammation, could be on the bubble, too, depending on when he makes his return.
