Luka Dončić will be sidelined for the rest of the regular season and likely longer after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 hamstring strain on Friday. Dončić sustained the injury in the Lakers 139-96 loss Thursday night against the Thunder. The Lakers star exited the game in the third quarter, after grabbing his hamstring in pain while trying to drive to the rim. It’s a gut punch for the Lakers, who have looked dominant as of late and sit third in the Western Conference. It also puts Dončić’s eligibility for end-of-season awards in serious jeopardy.
Per the CBA, a player must participate in at least 65 regular-season games (20 minutes minimum) to be eligible for awards like Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams. Dončić has only played in 64 games. With only five games left on the Lakers schedule, Dončić seemingly will not hit the threshold.
There was a possibility that Dončić would still remain eligible under a specific exception that was created alongside the rule, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll check all the boxes that way, either.
In the league’s CBA, a player could qualify for end-of-season awards by playing in at least 62 games, then suffering a season-ending injury while having played in at least 85% of the regular season games prior to suffering the injury. While Dončić checks the box of having played 62 games, he doesn’t meet the requirement of having played in 85% of his team’s games prior to the injury. He’s played in 83.1%. In order for him to meet the “season-ending injury” requirement, a physician selected by the NBA and players association would have to determine that it’s “substantially more likely than not” that Dončić would be unable to play through May 31.
Another path to awards eligibility
However, there is one way left for Dončić to still retain awards eligibility for MVP and All-NBA. In order to do so, Dončić would have to file an “extraordinary circumstances grievance,” per the league’s CBA. The Lakers star would have to prove all three things:
- Due to extraordinary circumstances, it was “impracticable” for him to play in one or more regular-season games
- He would’ve satisfied the award eligibility criteria had be played in every game that he missed due to the extraordinary circumstances
- As a result of the extraordinary circumstances, and “taking into account the totality of the circumstances, including whether the player did not play in other regular season games in which he could have played during the season,” it would be “unjust” to exclude him from award eligibility
Dončić does indeed plan to go this route, per his agent. Dončić and his agent Bill Duffy plan to point to the two games he missed on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, in which he flew to Slovenia to be present for the birth of his youngest daughter in early December. He would’ve satisfied the award eligibility criteria had he not missed those two games for extraordinary circumstances.
Dončić has to serve a written notice to the NBA by 11:59 p.m. EST on April 13, the day following the last day of the regular season. It would have to include a witness list, relevant documents and other “evidentiary materials” for the case. The decision will be made by an independent expert that the league and the player’s association jointly select. This “challenge expert” will hold a hearing no later than two days after being presented with the challenge by the player, and make a ruling on the case.
“His record-breaking season deserves to be noted in the history books, despite last night’s unfortunate injury and other extraordinary circumstances,” Duffy said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the NBAPA and the league office to ensure a fair outcome in this matter.”
It’s a complicated process, but it represents a possibility that Dončić can remain eligible for end-of-season awards, if he chooses to go down this path.
Given the season he’s had, it would be a shame for him not to be honored with an All-NBA selection. Especially when he just finished the month of March having totaled 600 points, breaking Kobe Bryant’s franchise record for most points scored in a single month. He had five 40+ point performances, as well as a 60-point outburst in a win against the Miami Heat on March 19. His case for MVP was gaining steam, and while he likely wouldn’t have won the award, you could argue he’s been the third- or fourth-best player in the NBA this season.
All that aside, though, it shouldn’t have to take Dončić using a “break glass in case of emergency” type of rule for him to remain eligible for end-of-season awards. There’s no question that he’s been one of the 15 best players this season, regardless of the number of games he played. In no world should someone called a “challenge expert” be hired to determine if Luka Dončić should be allowed to earn an All-NBA spot. You don’t need to read the rules of the CBA and hire lawyers to figure that one out.
Unless the league and the player’s union decide to soften some of these guidelines going forward, this is the reality we’ll be living in. One where a guy who just had a historic month and has carried his team to the third-best record in the league since March 6, might not be honored in the history books because he fell short one game shy of this arbitrary rule. Adam Silver might think this rule is working, but there’s been plenty of evidence to prove it’s not.
