A debate I regularly have on the Open Floor podcast: Does the NBA’s 65-game minimum for postseason awards need to exist? The minimum, collectively bargained in 2023 in response to what the league felt was an abuse of load management, has become a polarizing issue. Proponents will say anyone who plays fewer than 65 games shouldn’t be eligible anyway. Critics argue that it should be up to the voter to decide if a 60-game player having an MVP season is worthy of the handful of awards and honors he could be eligible for.
That threshold looms especially large this season. Nikola Jokić, the front-runner for MVP in December, remains out with a knee injury that could limit him to fewer than 65 games. The 12 games Victor Wembanyama missed with a calf injury could keep him out of the awards race, too. So far, the NBA has skirted any controversy from the minimum games requirement. In a few months, that could change.
