A rule intended to keep NBA superstars on the court may be keeping them from voters’ All-NBA and other award ballots.
The NBA’s 65-game minimum to be eligible for awards like MVP, All-NBA, and others may keep some of the league’s brightest starts from earning awards. Beyond recognition, those awards are also tied to contract bonus that can pay tens of millions of dollars more over the lives of the contracts.
Via Lev Akabas of Sportico, here is a list of players close to missing out on NBA Award eligibility:
With a dozen or so games left in the season, at least a handful of these players – including Portland’s own Deni Avidja – are perilously close to losing eligibility.
While there’s no question the strategic resting of stars has been a problem over the years, it’s also true that one of the solutions to that problem (the 65-game minimum) will now keep players – who in good faith tried to play through injuries like Avdija or known for their durability like Jokic – from being eligible for awards they would otherwise earn.
What do you think? Does the NBA need to tweak its awards eligibility requirements, or is this the expected and intended consequence of having tighter rules?
