The NBA and NBPA agreed to waive the 65-game threshold for both stars due to extraordinary circumstances.
The MVP and other NBA postseason awards race has gotten that much more interesting with the latest news, as the NBA and NBPA reached an agreement on two high-profile eligibility cases. The two sides ruled that Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham will be cleared to bypass the 65-game threshold and thereby be eligible for the postseason awards. Both stars were granted waivers under the CBA’s “extraordinary circumstances” clause, finding that the totality of the situations warranted the exception. They were able to avoid arbitration, as the NBA and NBPA both agreed to waive the rule.
Others weren’t so lucky. Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards challenged the rule with an arbitrator after appearing in 60 games this season. That was denied, and he’ll therefore be ineligible. In contrast, Doncic and Cunningham played a bit more games. Doncic was just one game short with 64 games played in the regular season. However, he missed two games in December to travel to Slovenia for the birth of his child. Cunningham played in 63 games but suffered a collapsed lung mid-March that caused him to miss the final 12 games. Doncic released a statement of gratitude for the advocation of the NBPA and what he called a “fair decision” by the NBA.
The 65-game threshold has been one of the hotter button topics in the league this year, with multiple superstars failing to hit the eligibility requirement, including Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, Lakers’ LeBron James, Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker, and Edwards. It almost got San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, both of whom were in danger of not hitting the mark. Wemby reached it with one game left to go, while Jokic reached it on the final game of the regular season. That inspired Nuggets’ coach David Adelman to call for change.
To him, the spirit of the rule is incompatible with a star like Jokic playing 64 games, never wanting to leave the court, but somehow not being eligible. Much of the discussion has brought up minutes played over game appearances to try to come up with a more favorable solution, or a percentage of the season played. However, the NBA is holding firm, with commissioner Adam Silver defending the rule and that it is working as intended.
Well, if one of those intentions was to continuously delay end-of-season voting for the awards, they’ve satisfied that. It just seems to risk the dangers of stars playing in one game they couldn’t have afforded to, or shouldn’t have, to reach a threshold. The players union plans to push for changes this summer. For now, as the rules stand, Doncic and Cunningham are firmly in the awards mix.