Prior to the 2023-24 season the NBA instituted a rule that is now known as the 65-game rule. It mandated that in order for players to be eligible for end-of-season awards (MVP, DPOY, All-NBA, etc.) they must appear in 65 regular-season games.
The intent was to incentivize players playing more often than not. It was the league fighting against the perception that “load management” was being used as an excuse for the NBA stars to miss games.
But the NBA missed the mark. Instead of helping the product and giving the fans more, this rule could end up hurting the best and brightest of the game as well as the league’s up-and-coming stars.
And more importantly, this rule does nothing to address the root cause of load management, increased injuries, missed games, rest nights. This rule is a bandage on a symptom that ignores what truly ails the NBA — the length of the season.
From Nikola Jokic to Keyonte George
There is very little argument when it comes to who should win MVP this season. It’s a race between Denver’s Nikola Jokic and OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But, because of the 65-game rule, voters could be faced with giving MVP votes to players that might not have received any votes if not for the 65-game rule.
Jokic would become ineligible if he misses two more games. Gilgeous Alexander would be ineligible if he misses six. The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama can only miss three more games if he wants to be considered for MVP or DPOY votes. Luka Dončić can only miss five more games. Five of the top eight players who are most likely to get MVP votes are at risk of losing eligibility.
When I asked Nuggets head coach David Adelman about the rule, he was clear in his belief that Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander, the two top players in the league, are never trying to miss games just to have rest days.
“Those two guys don’t sit, they play, and I think there has to be some respect given to that,” he said. “Speaking for my own player, he doesn’t miss games. It would make him go crazy to miss a game. He was hurt. I think there’s a distinction there. There’s a difference. I don’t have the slightest idea how you judge that, because obviously guys can be hurt, and some guys, it’s more about getting through the season.”
The 65-game rule has the potential to turn the MVP race into a discussion between Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Boston’s Jaylen Brown. And while both players have had incredible seasons, an MVP race between only those two players does not tell the true and whole story of the 2025-26 NBA season.
The rule should not be rewriting the story of the season and it is getting dangerously close to doing exactly that.
And this isn’t just about the league’s most elite players. This also impacts players who are eligible for the All-Defensive teams and the Most Improved Player award.
The players that are largely expected to receive MIP votes are Jalen Johnson (Atlanta Hawks), Deni Avdija (Portland Trail Blazers), Keyonte George (Utah Jazz) and Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons).
As of writing, Avdija is listed as doubtful for the Blazers’ Friday night game at Houston. If he misses that game, it is the final game he can miss this season before losing MIP eligibility. George can miss just five more games.
When injury isn’t the direct reason for a player missing a game, often they are held out against their will. They are held out to protect themselves from further injury, they are held out as a precaution, they are held out because the team wants to preserve their bodies for the postseason, and they are held out because the team is tanking.
The rule puts responsibility for playing on the players’ shoulders despite injury and punishes them even when the decisions are often out of their control.
The missed diagnosis
The NBA saw an increase in load management cases and rest days from the league’s star players and decided that the players and teams were to blame, instituting a rule to police how many games would be necessary for the players to receive end-of-year accolades.
But this rule completely misses the reason that there is even a need for rest days and load management — the NBA season is too long.
This is not a secret and it is something that has been widely discussed and studied. Advancement in sports science and what medical data is available to teams has made it clear that there have been increases in number of injuries and the rate at which they happen over the last 20 years in the NBA. Many within the league say that the rise of pace in the NBA directly correlates to the increase in injuries and puts players at greater risk over time.
It’s time to get rid of the 65-game rule
Everyone that I talked to in the NBA about the 65-game rule understands the underlying reason that the league wanted to make a change.
“The spirit of the rule was in the right place,” Pelicans coach James Borrego said. “I think the league is always trying to make tweaks along the way to improve the health of our game, the experience, the entertainment as well. And I think anytime our guys can play, especially the stars, it just it elevates our league to another level. And I think that’s the spirit of it. Whether or not it’s working, I don’t know.”
Clearly it’s not working. Stars are missing games, stars are getting injured, injuries continue to increase. And, as always, the reason that the NBA doesn’t want to address the larger issue is money. It’s the only reason not to address the length of the season.
But if the NBA is not going to address the real reason that players are missing games or getting injured, it should, at the very least, scrap the 65-game rule.
“It would appear that it’s going to have to be examined,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “I think the intent of the rule was correct, but there’s always going to be extenuating circumstances. Maybe this year is just one of those years where there’s a lot of chatter about multiple people not qualifying for some of the big awards … but it does seem to be a bigger conversation this year than it has been in the past.”
It’s a big conversation because it matters. Not just for the players that could be qualifying for the MVP award, but also for those who are trying to break into stardom in the NBA. And even if they don’t win the award, they deserve the chance for votes, they deserve for their names to be on the ballots rather than dismissed because of an arbitrary rule.
