NBA "65-Game" Rule Costing Players Awards and Millions

NBA’s 65-game rule has top players expressing their frustrations

Photo by (Getty Images)

In recent weeks, the NBA’s 65-game rule has impacted the earning potential of the league's brightest stars. Midway through the season, several notable stars were sidelined with injuries and approaching ineligibility. Here’s a list of notable players who’ve missed over 10 games this season: Lauri Markkanen, Bam Adebayo, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Haliburton, Jimmy Bulter, Jamal Murry, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyrie Irving, Evan Mobley, LaMelo Ball, Darius Garland, Zach Lavine, Bradley Beal, Mitchell Robinson, and Marcus Smart. A notable case is the reigning MVP Joel Embiid. The 76ers star is having a career-best season, leading the NBA in scoring with 35.3 points and adding 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. Embiid suffered a lateral meniscus knee injury suffered against the Golden State Warriors on Jan 30. The 76ers recently announced that Embiid has undergone a knee procedure and will be out for at least four weeks. It's evident that Embiid will fall short of the 65-game requirement to earn post-season awards, but the reigning MVP has his sights set on a post-season return.

What is the 65-Game Rule ?

The league's new rule accounts for all players to participate in 65 games for at least 20 minutes to be eligible for major individual awards: Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of The Year, Most Improved, and All-NBA honours. Under this rule, players can miss 20% of games. In addition, there are protections against season-ending injuries (62 games) and bad faith circumstances. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league office put this rule in place to emphasize the importance of its regular season while protecting the paying customers spending money to see their favourite players on the court. In recent years, the era of load management has kept the league's top 25 players missing over 25% of games. The NBA's Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars, stated that the collective efforts of the league, stakeholders, and the NBPA found that 17 games was a good number on the cutoff point on the 65-game requirement.

65-Game Rule Can Cost Tyrese Halliburton $41 Million

Photo by (Ian Mule/Associated Press)

The Indiana Pacers star has missed 13 games due to a hamstring injury, and missing four more games would deem Haliburton ineligible for all post-season awards. The two-time all-star is in the final year of his contract, and not meeting the 65-game requirement can cost him a difference of $41 million via his new contract extension. The two-time all-star has been named as a starter for the first time in his career and should receive All-NBA honours if stays healthy.

If so, his five-year contract starts at 30% of the team's salary cap which is around $141 million. Under the NBA’s recent salary cap projections, Haliburton’s next deal would be a five-year $245.3 million if he receives All-NBA honours. If Haliburton is not awarded All-NBA honours due to ineligibility of the 65-game requirement, he will earn $204.5 million. Haliburton expressed his frustrations about the 65-game rule “I think it's a stupid rule, like plenty of the guys in the league, but this is what the owners want, so as players, we gotta do our job and play in 65 games if we're able to”. The bottom line is that Haliburton needs to stay healthy in order to secure the $41 million on the table.

The implications of the 65-game rule have left players a little uneasy . Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors wasted no time in addressing that he is not a fan of the rule. “its quite bulls—”. Green believes that Embiid returned back from his injury because of the 65-game rule, but ultimately forced it resulting in an injury. “I don't really bang with it and now we've got one of our premier faces in this league, the MVP of our league possibly hurt for an extended period of time because he's forcing it.”

But there’s no inclinations of adjusting the 65-game rule. Commissioner Adam Silver and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), will go to market for their upcoming TV Rights deal with an estimated cost of $8 billion. From a business perspective, the league needs cooperation from the players in order to retain high value of the NBA. The premier faces of the league is one of it not the biggest asset for shareholders and partners.

Written by: Hussein Abdullahi

Andrew Wiggins Becomes The Third Canadian to be Named an NBA All-Star

Andrew Wiggins is named to his first NBA All-Star Selection

The Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins has earned his first All-Star nod in his career and was named to the starting lineup of the Western Conference. Wiggins will join his teammate Stephen Curry at this year’s NBA All-Star game in Cleveland. Andrew Wiggins becomes the third Canadian to make an NBA All-Star game, joining Steve Nash and Jamaal Magloire. Wiggins has earned the third Frontcount spot for the Western Conference, where he will join LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, and Steph Curry. The 26-year old recalls his All-Star dream, Full Circle. Wiggins will play in his first NBA All-star game in Cleveland, after nearly eight years since the Cavs drafted him and sent him to Minnesota in exchange for Kevin Love.

“I thought I was dreaming for a second...Full circle. It feels good. No better way to have my first All-Star than where it all started.”

— Andrew Wiggins (Gloden State Warriors)

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Wiggins Selection as All-Star Starter Underscores NBA’s Voting Problem

Wiggins’ All-Star starter selection has raised skepticism. Many have labelled Wiggins as a controversial pick as a starter. You can make an argument for the Suns' Booker and Paul to fill the lineup. Both led their team to a leagues-best record this far. The more complex matter to analyze here is the NBA voting system. The fan voting portion accounts for 50%, leaving the other 50% to media and player votes (25% media, 25% players). Wiggins had more fan votes and fewer media and players votes. Thanks to a big push powered by K Pop-Star BamBam, Wiggins earned an extra 39,000 fan votes with a total of 3,452,586. The convergence of social media currency worked in the favour of Wiggins.

Photo Courtesy of Golden State Warriors (@warriors)

Ultimately, because the NBA fan voting portion is worth 50%, Wiggins had adequate support from his fanbase to secure his starting spot for the Western Conference. Wiggins ranked third most votes amongst Western Conference frontcourt players trailing LeBron behind James and Nikola Jokic. Wiggins also finished fifth in player votes and sixth in media votes. The All-star game has always been about entertaining the fans and in the case of Wiggins, playing an intricate role for the Warriors in the absence of Klay Thompson while maintaining a league’s second-best record with one of the largest fanbases earns you a starting bid. The NBA decided that each conference stats backcourt players and three frontcourt players—which partially is why Wiggins got the spot.

Golden State Warriors Wiggins' Stellar Performance This Season

With career-best efficacy, Wiggins has earned the respect of his teammate, especially from Steph and Klay. His improved shooting ability and defensive prowess helped the Warriors secure the 2nd seed in the Western Conference. The defensive presence of Wiggins has generated a league-best defensive rating of 102.4 for the Warriors. Coach Steve Kerr has praised Wiggins for his positive contributions all season in spite of the absences of Klay Thompson. Coach Kerr considered the All-Star selection “one of his proudest moments as a coach”. Klay Thompson also spoke highly about the first-time All-star. Wiggins has proven the naysayers wrong and is living up to the potential of his NBA career.

“He earned not only the All-Star spot but the position he mans on our team, He’s our number-one perimeter defender night in and night out.”

— Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors

We would not be where we’re at without his play. It’s really cool, he deserves it. I whole heartedly believe that. He’s also one of the best athletes in the NBA, combine all those traits and you got an All-star.”- Klay Thompson

Prior to his stint with the Warriors, Wiggins only experiences one playoff appearance with Minnesota back in 2018. Following the departure of Kevin Durant via free agency, Andre Iguodala and the injuries of Curry and Klay, the Warriors pursued Wiggins during the 2019-2020 season. The Warriors then acquired Wiggins for Minnesota in exchange for D'Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans III, Omari Spellman, and a second-round pick. Through the acquisition of Wiggins, the Warriors are back in championship contention, part of that has to do with Wiggins who played an intricate part in their 39-13 record. Wiggins and his teammates are certain that this won’t be his last All-Star selection, as far Canada it’s a huge opportunity for the culture of basketball North of the border. Catch Wiggins in his first career All-Star game on February 20th live from Cleveland.

Featuring: Andrew Wiggins

Written By: Hussein Abdullahi

Published by: TGQ Inc.