ESPN's NBA Insider Shams reported yesterday afternoon that Spurs center Victor Wembanyma will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
This is not only significant for the Spurs, but also for Wembaymana who no longer will be eligible to win awards this offseason. To begin the 2023-24 season, the NBA adopted new rules regarding load management, stars playing on nationally televised games, and even criteria for players to meet in order to be eligible for awards.
Victor Wembanyama is now inelligible for offseason awards
To be eligible for offseason awards such as MVP, being selected to an All-NBA team, Defensive Player of the Year, etc, a player must satisfy at least one of the following two criteria:
1) The player played in at least 65 regular-season games
2) The player played in at least 62 regular-season games, suffered a season-ending injury, and played in at least 85% of the regular-season games played by his team before the player suffering said injury.
"There's no magic to the 65, but we're trying to take into account games, of course, that are going to be missed because there are injuries, and maybe occasionally even it's necessary for a player to rest," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at his NBA Finals news conference in Denver. "This is something we negotiated with the players' association. Everybody has an interest in the league putting its best foot forward in a highly competitive regular season."
The NBA's 65-game rule significantly impacts player salaries by determining their eligibility for major awards, which then directly influence the size of their contract extensions. Players who miss too many games potentially lose out on millions of dollars in potential earnings due to not reaching the required games played threshold to qualify for higher salary tiers.
For a player like Wembayma on a rookie contract, after next season, he will be eligible for a rookie supermax contract extension north of $300 million. Now nearing his rookie contract extension, he can see a significant difference in his potential earnings if he misses too many games and doesn't qualify for All-NBA honors moving forward.
Victor Wembanyama's dominance this season
Wembanyma was well on his way to winning his first Defensive Player of the Year award after finishing second in voting behind Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in his rookie campaign. Overall, Victor was putting together a historic season with some all-time great numbers.
In 46 games for the Spurs, Wembanyma was averaging 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, and 1.1 steals and was shooting a respectable 35.2 percent from behind the arc.
To add to his level of dominance, Wembanyma this season was leading the NBA in both blocks and stocks, he was the only player with a 5x5 game, the first player ever averaging 3+ BPG and 3+ 3PM, and became the youngest center with a 50-point game in NBA history. There's a reason he's one of the most highly touted prospects of all time, and so far, throughout his young career, he has lived up to the hype.
Hopefully, the NBA can make some tweaks and minor changes to their rules for players who suffer season-ending injuries, and it affects not only their ability to be eligible for awards but also their money when it comes to contract negotiations.