The Unintended Consequences of The NBA's 65-Game Award Rule

Before the season started, I wrote about the NBA’s new rule requiring players to be in a minimum of 65 games to be eligible for end-of-the-season awards and how unbelievably short-sided and silly it was.

My original point was this rule incentivizes organizations to do shady shit and manipulate playing time to keep their guys from winning these awards thus making them cheaper to keep on the payroll.

Let’s remember these medical staffs work for the teams, not the players. We might start seeing some shady shit where the team doctors tell stars they need to take a couple extra games off to get healthy but in reality, the doctors are told by management to stop a guy from playing 65 games so the team can save millions.

These teams are run by cheap, unethical sociopaths who just passed a rule that penalizes teams from spending over the cap. We don’t have to assume they may do nefarious shit with the 65-game rule. They’re already telling on themselves with the new luxury tax rule.

BARS. You guys should really read Deadseriousness. Some good shit being written over here.

But I overlooked another consequence of this rule and we’re seeing it right now with Joel Embiid.

On Saturday afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers flew into Denver for NBA’s Rivalry Week. Nikola Jokic vs. Joel Embiid. Biggest matchup of the day. Andddd 15 minutes before tip-off, it was reported Joel Embiid suddenly had a sore knee and couldn’t play.

Naturally, Embiid was roasted for once again refusing to play against Jokic in Denver. Joel Embiid hasn’t played basketball in Colorado since 2019.

Personally, I think it’s hilarious.

Especially considering he played against Denver when they came to Philly two weeks earlier and put 41 points on Jokic’s head. I, too, would refuse to play Jokic in Denver. I’ve built a life on avoiding any and all possibilities of feeling embarrassed. I’d be the king of ducking embarrassing matchups.

But it turns out, Joel Embiid was genuinely nursing a knee injury and after taking the next game off against Portland, he rushed his way back to play against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night and re-aggravated the injury.

Joel Embiid is down and holding his knee pic.twitter.com/Aigap7Ch4l

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 31, 2024

It’s safe to assume Embiid hurried back too soon because he is having the objective best season in the NBA and taking a couple weeks off to rest his knee could eliminate him from winning the MVP award.

The only knock on Embiid’s game is his injury-plagued playoff runs where he performs significantly worse when the games matter most because he’s always limping.

He is currently in the midst of the greatest season of his career and arguably one of the greatest statistical seasons ever and he may have ruined his knee and any possibility for him to go into the playoffs healthy and prove the haters wrong because he had to play a random Tuesday night game just to have his greatness recognized historically with trophies.

This 65 game rule is going to cripple guys.

But there’s another problem the NBA hadn’t considered.

Tyrese Haliburton is on the doorstep of missing out on All-NBA eligibility because he injured his ankle. That’s going to take $40 million out of his bank account.

Tyrese Haliburton on the NBA’s 65-game minimum requirement for regular season awards:

“It’s a stupid rule.”

(via @RomeovilleKid, https://t.co/PSuNznxjpe) pic.twitter.com/6Tkgw13XdP

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) January 30, 2024

And I mentioned this the first time I wrote about it. But what I didn’t think about are all the underserving guys who are going to sneak their way into winning All-NBA honors because the real, truly great players in this league twisted their ankle on a freak play.

So it’s not just guys like Tyrese Haliburton missing out on the massive max contracts.

It’s guys who aren’t nearly as good as Tyrese Haliburton making All-NBA teams and now these lesser players are demanding massive max contracts. Someone like Miles Bridges or Kristaps Porzingis sneaks onto an All-NBA team and now a team’s entire salary cap is COOKED because their 3rd or 4th best player is getting paid like a superstar.

We’re going to get a season where a few top guys suffer long injuries and some real bums are going to take home trophies and demand contracts they absolutely do not deserve.

10 years from now, Joel Embiid is going to show up to a Sixers game in a wheelchair because the NBA made him play through broken bones for the MVP award and OG Anunboby is going to go down as one of the highest-paid players in NBA history because a few guys tore their ACL’s in October.

All thanks to the NBA’s 65 game rule. Adam Silver’s NBA, man.

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