NBA Veteran Clears His Stance on 65-Game Rule For NBA

McGrady’s reasoning is straightforward. According to him, someone who played 60 games shouldn’t compete for an award against someone who played 75.

Despite counting injuries as unfortunate, McGrady implied that awards are meant for players who play the whole season. It doesn’t matter if someone is hurt. If they miss too many games, they shouldn’t get the award.

But NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has pushed back against the growing criticism by carefully addressing the issues. Silver stated, “I’m not ready to say it’s not working. It is working… I’m not ready to say because there is a sense of unfairness for one player, that the rule doesn’t work.”

Well, the rule isn’t set in stone, as injured players who play 62 games can still win awards, which seems fair.

However, one legitimate contender was eliminated from the award race, even after the incorporation of this exemption.

Cade Cunningham Was Ruled Out From the Award Race

Cade Cunningham’s case is a classic example of how the rule can eliminate even deserving contenders from the special honors race. The Pistons’ star was having an MVP-level 2025-26 season, averaging 24.5 points and handing out 9.9 assists per game.

His incredible form helped Detroit achieve the best record in the East with 52-19. Then a collapsed lung in March cut his season short, leaving him with 61 games, just one game short of the injury exemption limit of 62 games, which wiped him out of the awards race.

Jeff Schwartz, Cunningham’s agent, didn’t hold back. He told ESPN’s Shams Charania that the league should be ashamed of itself.

He said, “Cade has delivered a first-team All-NBA season. If he falls just short of an arbitrary games-played threshold due to legitimate injury, it should not disqualify him from recognition he has clearly earned over the course of the season.”

Schwartz went even further, “The league should be rewarding excellence, not enforcing rigid cutoffs that ignore context. An exception needs to be made.”

But Cunningham isn’t the only one. Even though they all played at a high level, LeBron, Steph Curry, and Giannis all broke the same rule and got eliminated from award races.

So, do you think that this controversial rule should continue to prevail, or does it need to be abolished?