The NBA’s 65-game rule, once hailed as the league’s definitive answer to “load management,” has turned into a source of controversy and unintended consequences in the 2025-26 season. Designed to ensure that the NBA’s top awards honor its most available and impactful players, the rule is now on the verge of disqualifying the league’s biggest stars from recognition, forcing an imminent reevaluation this offseason.
A Season of Casualties: The Rule Claims Its Biggest Victims
The rule’s rigid math—players can miss no more than 17 games—has clashed with the harsh reality of an unprecedented injury wave. The most shocking casualties are the very paragons of durability and performance the awards are meant to celebrate:
-
Nikola Jokić: The reigning Finals MVP, already ineligible for the 2026 MVP, a trophy he has won three of the past five years.
-
Giannis Antetokounmpo: A two-time MVP, also mathematically eliminated from the race.
-
LeBron James: Currently at the 17-game limit, making his eligibility for All-NBA honors statistically improbable.
-
Victor Wembanyama: The league’s most dominant defender faces disqualification for the second consecutive season after missing 14 games.
-
Kawhi Leonard & Stephen Curry: All-NBA fixtures are one minor injury away from falling below the threshold.
This crisis has effectively cleared the path for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to claim a second consecutive MVP, a deserving outcome based on his historic play. However, the potential for an All-NBA team that excludes the likes of Jokić, Giannis, and LeBron due to a technicality fundamentally challenges the legitimacy of the honor.
The Core Problem: An 82-Game Gauntlet in a Modern Era
The debate exposes a deeper, long-simmering tension: the archaic nature of the 82-game regular season. Introduced in the 1967-68 season, this format has remained unchanged for nearly 60 years. In that time, the sport has transformed. The athleticism, speed, and physical intensity of today’s game are magnitudes greater than in previous eras. Players cover more ground, execute more high-velocity actions, and face a longer postseason grind than ever before.
The 65-game rule was a band-aid solution to a symptom—strategic rest—but it fails to address the root cause: the immense physical toll of the modern 82-game schedule.
The Likely Fix: Lowering the Threshold
While abolishing the rule is unlikely due to its recent inclusion in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), momentum is building for a significant adjustment. The most plausible compromise is lowering the eligibility threshold from 65 to 60 games (roughly 73% of the season). This would create a more realistic “injury buffer” of 22 missed games (nearly 27% of the season), better accommodating the unavoidable wear and tear that even the most durable stars face.
Such a change would acknowledge that availability remains crucial, while preventing the award system from becoming divorced from the reality of who the best players in the world truly are in a given season.
The Bottom Line: A Rule in Need of Evolution
The 2025-26 season will be remembered as the tipping point. When the league’s signature awards can no longer accommodate its signature players due to a rigid games-played quota, the system has failed its primary purpose. This summer, expect the NBA and the Players Association to negotiate a more nuanced solution—one that balances the need for star participation with the undeniable physical demands of a season that has long outgrown its 1960s skeleton. The 65-game rule is not dead, but its days in its current, unforgiving form are numbered.