{"id":510722,"date":"2026-03-01T00:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T00:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510722\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T00:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T00:17:08","slug":"nba-awards-eligibility-tracker-which-star-players-are-at-risk-of-missing-out-under-the-65-game-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510722\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Awards Eligibility Tracker: Which star players are at risk of missing out under the 65-game rule?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/nba\/article\/is-the-nbas-mvp-award-up-for-grabs-154358800.html\" data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" data-ylk=\"slk:NBA awards races;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" target=\"_blank\">NBA awards races<\/a> are heating up. But in addition to the nightly on-court performances of the league\u2019s brightest stars, fans (and voters) will have to keep an eye on whether or not the stars are actually, um, on the court.<\/p>\n<p>Due to the NBA\u2019s 65-game rule in which players must appear in 65 games over the course of the 82-game season in order to qualify for year-end awards, a number of injured stars \u2014 including Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry \u2014 are already ineligible for regular-season honors. In addition, several other notable awards candidates are at risk of losing their eligibility with six weeks \u2014 and roughly 20 games \u2014\u00a0left in the season. Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n<p>Players at risk of not qualifying for NBA awards<\/p>\n<p>Under the league\u2019s 65-game rule, players who miss 18 games will no longer be eligible for season-ending awards.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Nikola Joki\u0107, Nuggets: 16 games missed <\/p>\n<p>Missed a month with a left knee injury<\/p>\n<p>Lauri Markannen, Jazz: 16 games missed<\/p>\n<p>Currently out with a hip injury<\/p>\n<p>Devin Booker, Suns: 15 missed games<\/p>\n<p>Currently out with a right hip strain; also missed time with an ankle sprain<\/p>\n<p>Evan Mobley, Cavaliers: 15 games missed<\/p>\n<p>Missed time due to two calf strain injuries<\/p>\n<p>Kawhi Leonard, Clippers:\u00a014 missed games<\/p>\n<p>Managing ankle soreness; also missed time with foot\/ankle injuries<\/p>\n<p>Victor Wembanyama, Spurs: 14 missed games<\/p>\n<p>Missed time earlier in the season with calf and knee injuries<\/p>\n<p>Deni Avdija, Trail Blazers: 13 missed games<\/p>\n<p>Currently out with a back injury<\/p>\n<p>Luka Don\u010di\u0107, Lakers: 12 missed games<\/p>\n<p>Missed four games with a left hamstring injury before All-Star break<\/p>\n<p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder:\u00a011 missed games<\/p>\n<p>Recently missed nine games with an abdominal strain<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves: 10 missed games<\/p>\n<p>Missed time with hamstring and foot injuries earlier this season<\/p>\n<p>Cooper Flagg, Mavericks: 10 missed games<\/p>\n<p>Currently out with a left foot sprain<\/p>\n<p>Players ineligible for NBA awards<\/p>\n<p>These star players will not reach the league\u2019s 65-game threshold for year-end awards this season.<\/p>\n<p>Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Davis, Mavericks\/Wizards<\/p>\n<p>Trae Young, Hawks\/Wizards<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NBA awards races are heating up. But in addition to the nightly on-court performances of the league\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[155899,16107,20453,64,30097,63,5676,10225,5663,16112,7224,62057,255940,39603,19711,7228,17422,12988,12831,9473,7902,37975,8642,1175,2873,7896,11473,27323,590,3906,3907,12841,85,7903,32783,12830,12838,3198],"class_list":{"0":"post-510722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-anthony-davis","10":"tag-anthony-edwards","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-austin-reaves","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-cavaliers","15":"tag-clippers","16":"tag-cooper-flagg","17":"tag-deni-avdija","18":"tag-devin-booker","19":"tag-domantas-sabonis","20":"tag-due-to-the-nba","21":"tag-evan-mobley","22":"tag-franz-wagner","23":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","24":"tag-grizzlies","25":"tag-ja-morant","26":"tag-jalen-williams","27":"tag-jazz","28":"tag-jimmy-butler","29":"tag-joel-embiid","30":"tag-josh-giddey","31":"tag-kawhi-leonard","32":"tag-lakers","33":"tag-lebron-james","34":"tag-luka-doncic","35":"tag-mavericks","36":"tag-nba","37":"tag-nikola-jokic","38":"tag-nuggets","39":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","40":"tag-sports","41":"tag-stephen-curry","42":"tag-timberwolves","43":"tag-trae-young","44":"tag-victor-wembanyama","45":"tag-warriors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}