Two NBA stars will remain in contention for major league honors this season after successfully appealing the league’s 65-game participation requirement, officials announced Thursday.
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association jointly decided that Luka Dončić of the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham can compete for awards including Most Valuable Player and All-NBA team selections, even though neither met the standard game threshold.
Dončić appeared in 64 contests while Cunningham participated in 63 games during the regular season. However, both organizations determined that exceptional circumstances warranted their inclusion under a special provision within the collective bargaining agreement.
The scoring champion and MVP contender Dončić was absent for two games while traveling to Slovenia for his daughter’s birth. Meanwhile, Cunningham sat out 12 games following a collapsed lung diagnosis on March 17.
“The NBA and NBPA agreed that, taking into account the totality of the circumstances for Cunningham and Dončić, each player qualified for awards,” the league and union stated jointly.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, who participated in 60 qualifying games, also challenged the rule through an independent arbitrator but received a denial for his appeal.
The eligibility question became a significant storyline as the season concluded. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, considered an MVP finalist and probable Defensive Player of the Year winner, reached the 65-game threshold during the Spurs’ second-to-last contest. Denver’s three-time MVP Nikola Jokic secured his qualification on the regular season’s final day, extending his streak of finishing first or second in MVP voting over five consecutive seasons while capturing this year’s rebounding and assist championships.
Denver head coach David Adelman expressed hope last week that the 65-game requirement will face modification this summer, arguing that dedicated players like Jokic who compete in 64 games without wanting rest shouldn’t face award disqualification.
“That’s not the spirit of what that rule is,” Adelman commented.
Several prominent players will lose award eligibility this season due to the game minimum, including Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, whose remarkable 21-season All-NBA team streak will conclude. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Golden State’s Stephen Curry also missed excessive games to qualify.
Following the completion of appeals for Dončić, Cunningham, and Edwards, the NBA will distribute award ballots to its voting panel of league reporters and broadcasters within days. The timing for announcing award recipients remains undetermined.
