With players like Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham ineligible to win MVP and be named to All-NBA teams for failing to meet the league’s 65-game criteria for player awards, many, including the NBA Players Association, have called for a change to the rule because it does not really serve its intended purpose.
However, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley thinks requesting players to play in 79.2 percent of the regular season isn’t too much to ask for someone who makes tens or millions of dollars per year, considering it was also a number they agreed on.
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“I don’t think 65 games is a lot to ask, man. Shut the hell up. Y’all voted on that in the collective bargaining, and now y’all want to complain. If’ y’all weren’t sitting on your a— half the time sipping margaritas and stuff, they wouldn’t have put the 65-game threshold in there. Shut the hell up,” said Barkley on Sunday’s ESPN Tip-Off Show.
It is part of the NBA’s current CBA
The NBA’s 65-game rule is part of the player participation policy, which the league implemented beginning the 2022-23 NBA season, replacing the previous player resting policy (PRP), which took effect in 2017 and prevented healthy players from resting nationally televised games or team will face a fine of at least $100,000 or as determined by the league.
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Under the new policy, players have to play at least 65 regular-season games to be eligible to win the MVP, DPOY, and MIP, and earn All-NBA and All-Defensive team honors. A player is deemed to have played one game, for this purpose, if he logged in for at least 20 minutes on the court.
Because the policy is included in the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, it was agreed upon by the league and the players through the players’ union. That’s why Barkley is telling players who are complaining to be quiet, because their own representatives signed off on it during negotiations.
The NBPA called for the revision of the rule after Cade’s injury
Barkley didn’t specify who his message was aimed at, but it may have been an indirect shot at the NBPA, which signed off on the rule during negotiations before later pushing back after Detroit Pistons star Cunningham missed the threshold following a collapsed lung.
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“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 union 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.”
If it had come from Cade, the Pistons, Luka, or the Lakers, calling the rule unfair or too rigid would have been understandable. But the NBPA negotiated the CBA on behalf of the players, and they were the ones who agreed to the 65-game rule when the league proposed it. Now that it’s backfiring, they’re labeling it overly strict and unfair. Maybe Barkley does have a point with this one.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.