On May 17, the NBA celebrated Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with his second regular-season MVP award, marking the third season since the implementation of the NBA’s controversial 65-game rule. The policy, initially intended to encourage game watchability and ensure fairness, risks rewarding the most available candidate rather than the best-performing player.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver pushed for this change in April 2023 to avoid load management, a term coined for intentionally missing regular-season games to conserve energy for playoff matches. The rule required an athlete to play at least 20 minutes in 65 regular-season games to qualify for official NBA awards. It aimed to ensure that NBA fans could watch their favorite players compete in more games by rewarding candidates who sustained their excellent performance throughout the season.
However, the rule has caused controversy regarding its limits on a player’s career accolades. Qualified but ineligible candidates can be removed from contention, potentially limiting both the quantity and quality of competition for a career-defining award.
Coming into this season, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić had a golden opportunity to etch his legacy. Jokić has made his case as one of the greatest NBA players of all time after winning his third MVP award in the 2023-24 season, becoming the ninth NBA player in history to ever do so. Adding a fourth MVP to Jokić’s resume would associate him with legendary players like LeBron James and mark a career-defining leap that could rival the greatest players in NBA history.
Midway through this season, the superstar hyperextended his left knee and suffered a bone bruise in a game against the Miami Heat, sidelining him for 16 games. The 65-game rule allows a player to miss only 17 games, meaning the star couldn’t afford to rest or slowly reintegrate himself into the game without losing eligibility. The pressure to compete for the MVP title could have slowed down the healing process and forced Jokić to sacrifice his long-term health for a shot at winning the historic award again. Despite barely making the 65-game threshold, Jokić’s specific circumstances highlight the small margin of opportunity stars have as they balance their recovery and eligibility.
More injury and eligibility issues surrounded Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić and Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham. Both players were considered top contenders for the MVP award this season, but neither met the 65-game requirement. Cunningham suffered a collapsed lung, and Dončić missed games for the birth of his child. The two filed for exceptions under the collective bargaining agreement’s extraordinary circumstances clause, which allows players to challenge individual qualifications for awards. The NBA and NBPA explained that after “taking into account the totality of the circumstances,” they granted the players’ eligibility for MVP contention. The NBA’s vague wording casts a wide net of possibilities for ways a player could be deemed eligible without meeting the threshold. This decision broadens the restraints of the 65-game rule while also raising questions about what distinct circumstances qualify players for exceptions.
Not every star is so lucky. Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards played 61 games due to an assortment of injuries and recovery days throughout the season. He filed an extraordinary circumstances challenge on April 15, to no avail. Fans speculated that the superstar was denied because he missed more regular-season games than both Cunningham and Dončić. But the NBA hasn’t publicized its rationale for this refusal, revealing the inconsistencies in league decisions.
In introducing exceptions, the league opens opportunities to continue celebrating the high-performing players who are sidelined by unfortunate events. Qualified superstars like Edwards — who averaged 28.8 points, shooting 39.9% from the 3-point line with 8.4 3-point shot attempts during the 2025-26 season — deserve to be considered for the MVP award just as much as Cunningham and Dončić, though the NBA may decide differently. Without a clear rationale or proper justification, the NBA’s verdicts on exceptions to the 65-game rule could impact the legacies of elite players.
Although the extraordinary circumstances clause is a step in the right direction, the NBA’s decision to grant Cunningham and Dončić’s exemptions failed to provide a concrete way to exempt other players. As the rule slowly becomes more integrated into the NBA, a change meant to encourage fan watchability could ultimately undermine the accolade’s reputation if it is awarded to the best available player, rather than the most qualified.
