By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer
The Los Angeles Lakers ‘ Luka Dončić and Detroit Pistons ‘ Cade Cunningham will be eligible for awards such as MVP and All-NBA this season despite falling short of the 65-game minimum, the league and the National Basketball Players Association said Thursday.
Dončić played in 64 games and Cunningham played in 63. But the league and the union both agreed that each should be on the ballot based on the “extraordinary circumstances provision” in the collective bargaining agreement.
Dončić — who is one of the favorites to contend for MVP honors after winning the league’s scoring title — missed two games to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia. Cunningham missed 12 games as a result of a collapsed lung that was diagnosed on March 17.
“The NBA and NBPA agreed that, taking into account the totality of the circumstances for Cunningham and Dončić, each player qualified for awards,” the league and the union said in a statement.
Dončić, in a statement posted to social media, said he is “grateful to the NBPA for advocating on my behalf and to the NBA for their fair decision,” adding that it was important to him “to be present for the birth of my daughter in December.”
“This season has been so special to me because of what my teammates and I have been able to accomplish, and I am honored to have the opportunity to be considered for the league’s end-of-season awards,” the statement said.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, who played in 60 qualified games, also tried to get on the awards ballot through the extraordinary circumstances challenge — but sought his approval before an independent arbitrator. His challenge was denied.
The statuses of Dončić and Cunningham were a major topic toward the end of the season. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama — an MVP candidate and the likely defensive player of the year — got to the 65-game mark in the Spurs’ next-to-last game, and Denver’s three-time MVP Nikola Jokic became qualified for this year’s awards on the final day of the regular season. Jokic has been first or second in MVP balloting in each of the last five seasons and won the league’s rebounding and assist titles this season.
Nuggets coach David Adelman said last week that he hopes the 65-game rule is changed, somehow, this summer. He said if players like Jokic can play 64 games, never wanting to come out, and not be award-eligible, then something is wrong.
“That’s not the spirit of what that rule is,” Adelman said.
A number of players will be ineligible for most major individual awards this season because of the 65-game rule, including the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James — whose 21-year streak of making an All-NBA team will end. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Golden State’s Stephen Curry have also missed too many games to be eligible.
With the decisions on Dončić, Cunningham and Edwards now complete, the NBA is expected to send award ballots to the panel of reporters and broadcasters who cover the league in the coming days. It’s unclear when the announcement of award winners will begin.
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