Cade Cunningham's injury has NBPA calling for rule change

The Detroit Pistons are going to be without superstar Cade Cunningham for the foreseeable future as he deals with a collapsed lung. 

While the Pistons' playoff spot is secure even without Cunningham, his absence could have a big impact on the NBA's award season and the honors that Cunningham could potentially receive for his great season. That includes league MVP and All-NBA honors. 

The National Basketball Players' Association is now fighting against that.

NBPA wants change to 65-game rule

The situation is simple: NBA players need to appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for major awards and honors. Anything less than that, with limited exceptions, makes player ineligible. It is a rule change that the NBA and the players' union collectively bargained for and was done as an attempt to get teams and players to stop with aggressive load management.

This is obviously a very different situation than the Pistons strategically sitting one of their best players. This is an injury situation, and a significant injury. 

Players can still be eligible for major awards if they appear in at least 62 games and suffer a season-ending injury, but Cunningham would still fall short of that threshold. He has appeared in 61 games.

The NBPA issued a statement regarding the situation on Tuesday, via the Associated Press and ESPN:

"Cade Cunningham's potential ineligibility for postseason awards after a career-defining season is a clear indictment of the 65-game rule and yet another example of why it must be abolished or reformed to create an exception for significant injuries," the NBPA said through a spokesperson. "Since its implementation, far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota."

Cunningham is not the only player dealing with this.

LeBron James' (Los Angeles Lakers) run of consecutive All-NBA selections is guaranteed to end this season due to his 21 games missed, while Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) are also ineligible for awards and All-NBA honors.

Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) and Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) are also getting dangerously close to being ineligible. 

This is a tough situation for the league. The rule was put into place for logical reasons. Arguably the right reasons. The league wants its best players on the court as often as possible because the game is better when they are playing. It is also better for fans who spend big money to attend games and travel to see players. Nobody wants to spend triple-digits hoping to see Wembanyama or James and then show up at the arena to find out they are being sat for load-management purposes. 

The rigidness of the rule is harsh, but it was something that both sides bargained for and agreed to. If you are going to have some kind of a limit on it, you have to stick to it. You can not just pick and choose when it gets applied and when it does not based on how big of a star the player in question is,or how good of a season they are having. 

You either stick to the rule or get rid of it. There is really not any other way to have your cake and eat it.