NBA Players Association Push to Reform 65-Game Rule After Cade Cunningham Injury

In the NBA if a player wants to be eligible for season awards they have to play most of their games. However, we could see this rule terminated or amended in the future. Currently, the NBA Players Association is pushing to reform the 65-Game Rule citing the Detroit Pistons Cade Cunningham injury as a reason for this rule being “archaic.” The NBPA is calling for the 65-game rule to be either abolished or reformed to create an exception for significant injuries.

Pistons’ star Cade Cunningham is a unique situation. He’s had a great season averaging 24.5 points and 9.9 assists, while helping Detroit to top the Eastern Conference. But due to injury he could narrowly miss out on being qualified for end of season accolades.

Cade Cunningham’s agent, Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports, spoke to ESPN regarding this situation stating, “Cade has delivered a first-team All-NBA season. If he falls just short of an arbitrary games-played threshold due to legitimate injury, it should not disqualify him from recognition he has clearly earned over the course of the season. The league should be rewarding excellence, not enforcing rigid cutoffs that ignore context. An exception needs to be made.”

The NBPA’s official statement on Cade Cunningham’s award eligibility status reads as follows:

“Cade Cunningham’s potential ineligibility for [end of] season awards after a career-defining season is a clear indictment of the 65-game rule and yet another example of why it must be abolished or reformed to create an exception for significant injuries. Since its implementation, far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota.”

NBA Players Association Push to Reform 65-Game Rule After Cade Cunningham Injury

Cunningham has appeared in 61 games this season. He is expected to miss several more games while recovering from a collapsed lung. To not fall short of the 65-game threshold. Cunningham would need to return by April 6 and play in all four of Detroit’s contests from that date through April 12, the end of the regular season.

Nevertheless, when you look around the league there’s a lot of players on the bubble. Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lakers star Luka Dončić have played in 60 games. The Thunder/Lakers have 10 games left on the schedule. Wemby needs to play in eight of the Spurs’ final 10 games to qualify. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, has played in just 56 games with 10 games left for Denver to play. And Anthony Edwards is currently sidelined with a knee injury and has only played in 58 games.

These elite players are close, but due to the rule in place might fall short. It’ll be interesting to see how the league addresses this issue.

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