NEW YORK — NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes the league’s 65-game rule is successful and does not seem inclined to change it despite a public call this week from the players’ union to change it.
The rule, which says players must play in at least 65 games to be eligible for the MVP award and other honors, came up again because of Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham. He is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a collapsed lung and has played in only 61 games this season, so he would not qualify for MVP award votes or for an All-NBA team, for which he is being considered.
“We always knew when there’s a line you draw, that somebody’s going to fall on the other side of that line,” Silver said Wednesday at a news conference after a meeting of the league’s board of governors. “And it may feel unfair in that particular instance. Let’s see what happens at the end of this year. By the way, Cade Cunningham is an incredible player. I’m sorry that he’s injured and can’t wait to see him back on the floor, but we also have to remember that to the extent that one player is no longer eligible, some other player will then be All-NBA and will slot into that spot. So I’m not ready to stand here saying I don’t think it’s working. I think it is working.”
The rule was introduced in the 2023 collective bargaining agreement, which was negotiated with the NBPA. It was meant to address the rash of games missed by star players due to load management and rest, and the rule was supposed to incentivize players to play more frequently. The NBA also instituted a revised player participation policy to try to address that concern.
Silver said the rule has worked since it was implemented, even though it has impacted several stars in the years since. And the rule has received criticism for asking players to play through injuries they would not otherwise have. Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton played through a hamstring strain during the 2023-24 season, hoping to remain eligible to earn a designated rookie max extension if he qualified for an All-NBA team.
Haliburton was named to the All-NBA third team that season, but it seems likely that Cunningham won’t be eligible this season, though he has not been eliminated yet. The CBA allows for exceptions, but he does not qualify for that either. Players would need to play in at least 62 games and be determined by doctors to be out through May 31.
The NBPA said the rule should be “abolished or reformed.” The NBPA, a union source said, is working on a proposal to change the rule, which would focus on load management and incorporate provisions for significant injuries. The union wants to re-evaluate the number of games played. It intends to present the proposal to the league in the next few weeks.
While Silver said he is sympathetic to Cunningham’s plight, he thinks the 65-game rule has fixed the problem it was meant to.
“There was a general agreement between us and the Players Association that we needed to do something about that. And the result was to have the 65-game rule. Like, could it be 68? Could it be 62? That was the product of a negotiation. But I generally think it’s worked. That, along with the player participation policy, there’s 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.
“So, now we have a separate issue that we’re dealing with in terms of tanking, and we’ll deal with that. And I get it. There’s part of my job. There’s always new issues, but I’m not ready to say, standing here today, that because there may be a sense of unfairness for one player, that means the rule doesn’t work.”