How many games will NBA players have to play to be eligible for awards starting the 2023-24 season?
NBA players will soon have to meet certain criteria to be considered as candidates for the competition’s top awards.
A new collective agreement between the NBA and the Players Association has addressed a number of key topics affecting the competition which have caused debate in recent seasons. One such bone of contention concerning the increasing use of load management, with franchises opting to rest their star players for strategic motives - even when the players might not be suffering any physical problems, injuries or illness.
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Last year it became evident that load management was getting out of hand, it had become a problem. Teams would preserve their key players in order to pace their schedule, timing their return for crucial matchups - this could even start happening in the early weeks of the season, with veteran players sitting out games due to innocuous conditions, with excuses such as soreness or rest given on their injury status.
Out of all of the All-Star players, only a handful missed less than five games last season and some of the big-name stars missed eight, nine, 10 or more games - equivalent to sitting out 10 per cent of the regular season. Some of those players were genuinely struggling with ongoing injury issues but not all. And now if they want to be among the award winners at the end of the campaign, they will have to give up some of the rest time they have enjoyed in recent years.
Minimum number of games required
Every year, the NBA dishes out 13 awards to the best teams, players and coaches in various categories (MVP, Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year… etc). But starting from the 2023-24 season, players must have participated in a minimum of 65 regular season games to be eligible for any of the annual awards or to enter the All-NBA Team - in other words, they must play at least some part in 80% of the team’s games.
Last season’s MVP Nikola Jokic played a total of 74 games for the Nuggets out of a possible 82 but others would have been left out of the awards under the new rule - for example, Steph Curry who managed 64 games, LeBron James who played 56 and Kevin Durant with just 55. It is hoped that the new measures will have a positive effect for everyone - players will still be allowed to sit out games to get some rest, as long as they don’t systematically abuse it.