Although the Phoenix Suns flipped the script in 2025-26 to put themselves in playoff contention a year after finishing 10 games under .500 and missing the playoffs, the season is set to end in a downer for the face of the franchise.<\/p>\n
Devin Booker, who was named to his fifth All-Star team in 2026, will be ineligible for the NBA\u2019s end-of-season awards due to one of the league\u2019s most polarizing rules.<\/p>\n
Booker will not even be able to be considered for post-season awards\u2014such as All-NBA status that he\u2019s achieved twice previously in his career\u2014because of the NBA\u2019s 65-game threshold rule.<\/p>\n
Prior to 2023, there was not a set criteria for any player to be considered for awards at season\u2019s end, save for Sixth Man of the Year Award candidates needing to start fewer than 50 percent of their team\u2019s games. It\u2019s an award to recognize the league\u2019s best contributors off the bench, after all.<\/p>\n
But, as The Athletic\u2019s Mike Prada writes<\/a> (subscription required), the NBA and National Basketball Players Association came together with the new collective bargaining agreement to require players to compete in at least 65 regular-season games to be considered for year-end awards like MVP and All-NBA. It was framed as a way to address \u201cload management,\u201d a tool used more and more by teams to rest stars throughout the 82-game grind to keep them healthy for postseason play.<\/p>\n According to NBA writer Marc Stein<\/a> (subscription required), Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic intends to appeal that polarizing rule with an \u201cExtraordinary Circumstances Challenge,\u201d since he missed time for the birth of his child earlier this season. Stein reports that the league will delay voting on awards until there\u2019s a resolution of Doncic’s impending appeal.<\/p>\n Suns Devin Booker ineligible for regular season awards<\/p>\n Because of that same rule, Booker will not see his name among the end-of-season awards.<\/p>\n If anything, Booker would likely be in the mix for the third All-NBA nod of his illustrious career. However, even if he hit that 65-game threshold, he\u2019d probably be on the bubble looking in at those awards.<\/p>\n