In the NBA's infinite wisdom, the latest collective bargaining agreement included a new requirement: Players need to play in at least 65 games—and play at least 20 minutes in 63 of those games—to be eligible for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year or the All-NBA teams. This was the NBA's latest attempt to combat the leaguewide increase in load management, which surely had no relation to its ongoing negotiations over new national TV contracts that were happening simultaneously.
As with most major NBA changes, this wound up having unintended consequences. Diluting the pool of players who are eligible for the league's major awards puts some teams in a tough spot, as certain players can earn more money on their extensions by winning MVP or DPOY or landing an All-NBA nod.
This year, a handful of players are already ineligible for those end-of-season honors. That's particularly costly for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams, who made the All-NBA third team last year and signed an extension this past offseason that would have begun at 30 percent of the 2026-27 salary cap had he won MVP or DPOY or made first-team All-NBA this season. Alas, he missed the first 18 games (and counting) of the season and is already disqualified from those end-of-season honors.
J-Dub has company in that regard. A few other big-name players are also out of the running.
Every major player ineligible for NBA's post-season awards
Player | Games Played | Games Missed | Max Games |
|---|---|---|---|
Jalen Williams | 0 | 18 | 64 |
Kyrie Irving | 0 | 19 | 63 |
Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton, both of whom made the All-NBA team last year, are sidelined by Achilles injuries and are expected to miss the full 2025-26 season. Along with J-Dub, that means three of the 15 spots from last year's All-NBA squads are wide open.
While it's still early in the season, J-Dub and Kyrie will soon have company in the ineligible pool. A few players are already nearing their games-missed limit.
Players flirting with ineligibility
Player | Games Played | Games Missed | Max Games |
|---|---|---|---|
Zion Williamson | 8 | 10 | 72 |
Kawhi Leonard | 8 | 10 | 72 |
Joel Embiid | 6 | 11 | 71 |
Trae Young | 5 | 13 | 69 |
LeBron James | 3 | 14 | 68 |
Anthony Davis | 5 | 14 | 68 |
Paul George | 3 | 14 | 68 |
Darius Garland | 5 | 14 | 68 |
Jalen Green | 2 | 16 | 66 |
Tyler Herro | 1 | 17 | 65 |
A few other players could (or will) join this group in short order.
Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis, who has already missed seven games this season, is out at least 3-4 weeks with a meniscus tear in his left knee. Sabonis missed the All-NBA team last season, but he made it both in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, whose season has largely been a comedy of errors, has already missed six games. He's out for at least another week with a Grade 1 right calf strain, although he isn't likely to be in the running for All-NBA nod even if he does clear the 65-game minimum. Quiet-quitting on your team has that effect.
The biggest possible snubs are in Milwaukee and San Antonio. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has already missed five games this season, is out 1-2 weeks with a low-grade left groin strain. If he sticks to that timeline, he should be back before falling short of the 65-game max, although he might not have much margin for error from here on out.
Meanwhile, Victor Wembanyama has missed the past four games with a left calf strain and is set to be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks. The Spurs figure to play it safe with their franchise cornerstone, so this may be the second straight year in which Wemby doesn't qualify for end-of-season awards because of the 65-game rule. (Imagine if the Spurs get him on a 25 percent max deal because of that.)
We'll update this post throughout the year, so check back to see which of your favorite stars won't be taking home some hardware this season.