Luka Doncic Injury Update Fuels Unfortunate Awards News

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Angelo Guinhawa | Last updated Dec 27, 2024 7:22 AM ET

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic is expected to miss a significant amount of time after sustaining a calf injury on Christmas. Unfortunately for the Slovenian playmaker, it also brings some more bad news.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Doncic "will be re-evaluated in one month" as a result of the calf strain he picked up on Wednesday in their loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Doncic suffered the injury late in the second quarter and had to exit the contest. He was eventually ruled out for the rest of the game at halftime.

Aside from the massive blow to the Mavs, though, Doncic's absence also has a major impact on his eligibility for the major NBA awards due to the league's 65-game rule.

The 25-year-old Doncic has already missed eight games this season. That means if he really ends up being sidelined for the next month or so, he would miss more than 20 games for the Mavs.

Dallas has three games remaining this December. Throughout January 2025, the Mavs have 16 scheduled matchups. A player cannot miss more than 17 games in a season to be eligible for the NBA awards, so Doncic needs to return by mid-January if he wants to stay in contention for those honors.

The NBA's 65-game rule applies to the "MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, the All-NBA teams and the All-Defensive teams," as explained by Yahoo Sports.

Doncic has been a member of the All-NBA First Team over the last five years. He was also a finalist for the MVP award in 2023-24 and has been mentioned as a contender for the top individual honor in the NBA on a yearly basis.

Sure enough, winning individual awards isn't a priority for Doncic and a Mavs team with championship aspirations. That being said, it's unlikely they will rush the superstar's return just to keep him eligible.

As for Dallas' chances of winning games without their best player, it's worth noting that they are 6-2 in the games Doncic has missed so far.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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