{"id":701145,"date":"2026-04-06T09:45:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701145\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:45:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:45:35","slug":"weve-got-to-be-smart-enough-to-figure-this-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701145\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019ve got to be smart enough to figure this out\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n

The notification popped into cellphones belonging to 76ers players and reporters alike during Friday\u2019s pregame open locker room period. <\/p>\n

Luka Don\u010di\u0107, an MVP candidate, had been ruled out for the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury sustained during the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. And it made another superstar ineligible for the NBA\u2019s postseason awards, because Doncic would not reach 65 out of 82 games played. <\/p>\n

This league-wide issue has further surrounded the Sixers in recent days. The Minnesota Timberwolves were in Philly on Friday, one night after Anthony Edwards could no longer qualify for All-NBA teams after missing Minnesota\u2019s game the previous night with an illness. <\/p>\n

Then the Detroit Pistons were in town Saturday without MVP and All-NBA contender Cade Cunningham, who also will fall four games short of that threshold for those honors because of his recovery from a collapsed lung. Sixers All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey<\/a>, meanwhile, fulfilled the criteria for such honors Friday by playing in his 65th game, though there was some previous uncertainty he would achieve that total when he injured his right pinkie finger on March 7. <\/p>\n

When asked about the rule, Maxey, Sixers coach Nick Nurse<\/a>, Minnesota coach Chris Finch, and Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff all understood why one exists. But Nurse acknowledged \u201cit seems like it\u2019s really affecting a lot of players this year that are right around [the 65-game mark].\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hard to be All-NBA and MVP and all those different things if you don\u2019t play a certain amount of games,\u201d Maxey added. \u201cDo I know what the number should be? No clue. But I do understand where they come from. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re impactful if you\u2019re available. I understand it.\u201d <\/p>\n

This season, generational stars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry are not eligible for such awards. Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama, two more MVP contenders, plus fellow 2026 All-Stars Kawhi Leonard, Deni Avdija, and Devin Booker, remain in danger of missing that mark entering the final week of the regular season. <\/p>\n

The 65-game rule, which was collectively bargained by the National Basketball Players Association and the league\u2019s owners, was implemented for the 2023-24 season to try to curtail load management and encourage star players to suit up more frequently. It runs in tandem with the player participation policy, which fines teams for sitting star players during nationally televised and NBA Cup games. <\/p>\n

And some tie its origins back to the Sixers\u2019 Joel Embiid<\/a>\u2019s seasons in the MVP race. Embiid, whose career has been littered with injuries, played in 66 games when he won the sport\u2019s top individual award in 2022-23. When he finished second to Jokic the previous two seasons, he played in 68 and 51 (of 72 games during a COVID-shortened regular season) games, respectively. <\/p>\n

NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently said that he believes the rule is \u201cworking.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe always knew, when there\u2019s a line you draw, that somebody\u2019s going to fall on the other side of that line,\u201d Silver said following the NBA\u2019s board of governors meeting, when Cunningham\u2019s injury was a fresh topic. \u201cAnd it may feel unfair in that particular instance. \u2026 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the product of a negotiation. But I generally think it\u2019s worked. That, along with the player participation policy, there\u2019s not nearly as much discussion around load management as there was, in part because the teams and the players have responded. You see them on the floor now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, some award voters have criticized that the rule removes trust in them to appropriately weigh players\u2019 accomplishments and the number of games they played. There also is an argument that the record books will no longer accurately depict the game\u2019s history and players whose performance defined a particular season. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose awards, they mean things to guys,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cThey\u2019re important [to] legacy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sixers legend Allen Iverson\u2019s recent Instagram post \u2014 saying \u201cI played with every injury you could think of, to the point they had to hide my jersey to keep me from playing \u2026 Don\u2019t cry now, what the babies gon do?\u201d \u2014 illustrates that some players from past generations still scoff at the concept of load management. But the modern game has significantly upped its across-the-board athleticism and pace of play, and some fear that the 65-game rule could prompt players to come back too quickly and risk more serious injury.<\/p>\n

Then there is the tricky reality that All-NBA designation can be tied to more lucrative salaries. A prime example of a player remaining on the floor while injured for that reason is Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who in 2023-24 strained his hamstring but continued to play in hopes he would make an All-NBA team and earn a max contract extension. <\/p>\n

Finch suggested that, if a player does not reach 65 games, they should still be eligible for awards but not the salary boost. Under the current rule, the Timberwolves coach added, some players who slide into the All-NBA spots in place of those ineligible might not warrant the highest available salary level, which could hamper teams\u2019 roster-building. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the things that\u2019s not talked about [with] it,\u201d Finch said. \u201cSome of these awards are going to go to players [who], not to say they\u2019re not necessarily deserving. But they\u2019re going to get these rewards and they\u2019re going to to get the financial bonus that comes with these rewards, and maybe they\u2019re not quite of the standard that would normally demand that. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, the money piece seems to be the obvious trigger.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the immediate aftermath of Cunningham\u2019s situation, the NBPA called for the 65-game rule to be \u201cabolished or reformed to create an exception for significant injuries.\u201d Cunningham, who is averaging 24.5 points, 9.9 assists, and 5.6 rebounds, has spearheaded the Pistons\u2019 rise to the top of the Eastern Conference as one of the best stories of this NBA season.<\/p>\n

\u201cCade Cunningham\u2019s potential ineligibility for postseason awards after a career-defining season is a clear indictment of the 65-game rule,\u201d the NBPA said in a statement. \u201c … Since its implementation, far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u010di\u0107 also plans to appeal for the \u201cExtraordinary Circumstances Challenge\u201d exception, per reports, because two of his games missed were to fly to Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter in early December. Doncic, however, also would have reached 65 games before his most recent injury had he not been suspended one game for his 16th technical foul. <\/p>\n

Maxey not qualifying for such honors would have been a huge strike against the rule\u2019s desired purpose.<\/p>\n

He has been one of the NBA\u2019s top scorers and a beacon of relentless durability, leading the league in minutes per game (38.2) while max-salary teammates Embiid and Paul George<\/a> again struggled to consistently stay on the floor. Prior to his early-March injury, Maxey had only missed two December games due to illness. Even after sitting out 10 consecutive games with the finger injury, he still ranked 10th in the league in total minutes played entering Sunday. <\/p>\n

Nurse said he had a brief thought that Maxey might miss out on All-NBA eligibility when the injury first occurred, as medical professionals diagnosed the finger tendon strain and likely recovery timeline. Maxey returned to game action wearing a splint exactly three weeks later, without any five-on-five scrimmaging or the typical ramp-up process following a reevaluation. <\/p>\n

He clapped his hands when informed Friday that he officially reached 65 games (with 20 minutes played in each of those games, another part of the criteria), but assured his primary motivation to come back was to help the Sixers in a tight race for postseason seeding. <\/p>\n

Perhaps measuring minutes played, instead of games played, over the course of a season is an alternative path to eligibility, Bickerstaff pondered before his Pistons beat the Sixers Saturday. Cunningham averaged 34.4 minutes across 61 games before his injury, as a ball-dominant point guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s possible,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cBecause now you have to come up with that number, as well. \u2026 But if guys have serious injuries, I think you have to take that into account. And they shouldn\u2019t be limited, in my opinion, because of that.\u201d <\/p>\n

The San Antonio Spurs, whom the Sixers face Monday, were surely tracking Wembanyama\u2019s minutes after he returned from a 12-game absence with a calf injury in November and December. The dominant two-way big man initially barely surpassed 20 minutes, to ensure he fulfilled the requirement to include that as a game played for the Western Conference\u2019s second-best team. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Wembanyama will officially qualify for those awards if he plays in the Spurs\u2019 remaining four games. Maxey is already there. <\/p>\n

But Cunningham, Edwards, and Doncic will not reach that mark, thanks to a rule now affecting some of the league\u2019 top performers this season. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see why we can\u2019t honor someone\u2019s season if they play 64 games, and they\u2019re worthy of MVP,\u201d Finch said. \u201c\u2026 I\u2019m all for the rule. It has to exist. We have to protect the fans. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I also feel like we\u2019ve got to be smart enough to figure this out.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min The notification popped into cellphones belonging to 76ers players and reporters alike during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3782],"tags":[7,307,152,3954,6,88044,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-701145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","11":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nba-tyrese-maxey-luka-doncic-anthony-edwards-cade-cunningham","14":"tag-timberwolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116357124923379671","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}