Luka Doncic had a remarkable feat of getting selected in the All-NBA first team in the past five years of his career. He only missed on his rookie year, although he won Rookie of the Year honors in a talented draft class. Since then, he has been a fixture in the NBA's first five.
Doncic was part of the foreign invasion, with international players becoming the contenders for the Most Valuable Player award, the highest individual award in all of basketball. It was only a matter of time for Luka, as he was third in MVP voting last season, while winning the scoring title. It was only a matter of time for him to win the coveted Michael Jordan trophy.
The streak officially ends this season. Luka will no longer reach the minimum requirement of 65 games, rendering him ineligible to win any post season award, including being selected All NBA.
The 65-Game Rule
It's a fundamental rule for sports that an athlete's safety is prioritized, and that no one should be forced to play while injured. Still, the NBA is filled with tales of players courageously playing through their ailments onward to triumph (Michael Jordan's iconic flu game). We often hail these players as heroes.
These days, injuries have progressed at an alarming rate, and the phenomenon of load management has emerged. Coaches have elected to rest their players even for minor injuries, and raised suspicion that some injuries may even be non-existent.
This is the part of the rationale behind the rule. It wanted to discourage load management, and force superstar players to play. They can only miss a maximum of 17 out of the 82 games.
Last season, Joel Embiid was disqualified since he only played 39 games. He was not able to defend his MVP in 2023, which he won while playing 66 games.
Unjust Rule?
Is the rule fair? What if the player is actually injured?
In truth, missing games can cost you awards. Players will fail to amass statistical points–one of essential criteria. However, there was never an official minimum number of games played as a league requirement.
The MVP who played the fewest games in a complete 82-game season was Bill Walton in 1977-78. Since then, the only instances when MVPs played less than 65 games were during lockouts (Karl Malone only had 49 out of a possible 50 games in 1998-99, LeBron James had 62 out of 66 in 2011-2012) and the pandemic (Giannis Anteokounmpo had 63 of 73 games in 2019-2020).
Why should it be an issue, when it was practically being followed most of the time? And why did they have to impose it in the first place, when it could lead to controversy?
Sticky Scenarios
What if Luka returns and plays out of his mind the rest of the season? He won't be awarded anything, even if he dominates. On the same note, what if Nikola Jokic, or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets injured and fails to complete 65 games? Should their achievements early in the season be disregarded?
Some of the maximum contracts in the NBA are conditional. You need to achieve milestones to qualify for a "supermax" contract extension. If a player sprains his ankle before the season ends, it could cost him millions of dollars.
Would it have been better to not make an official rule and let the voters decide? What would be a fair number of games played for a player to be worthy of postseason awards?
The rule is already in place, and the players will just have to live with it. They also can't circumvent the rule by listing a player as active. Players need to be fielded at least 20 minutes in at least 62 games. The other three games, they should play at least 15 minutes.
It is clear that the NBA is fed up with load management, as they should be. There is no perfect remedy, and this could be the best solution as of now. Until there are teams willing to pay, the NBA will still abound with non-performing assets.