Lakers guard Luka Doncic will be eligible for end-of-season awards after the NBA and its players’ association announced Thursday they ruled in his favor on his extraordinary circumstances appeal of the 65-game rule.
Doncic, a leading candidate for most valuable player and a lock for his sixth All-NBA team, played in 64 games before he suffered a left hamstring injury that ended his regular season on April 2. The league’s latest collective bargaining agreement requires players to appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for postseason awards, but Doncic and Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham both won appeals under the CBA’s extraordinary circumstances provision.
Doncic missed two games in December to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia. Cunningham, whose career-best season led the Pistons to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, missed 12 games because of a collapsed lung suffered on March 17.
“I am grateful to the NBPA for advocating on my behalf and to the NBA for their fair decision,” Doncic wrote in a statement on social media. “It was so important to me to be present for the birth of my daughter in December and I appreciate Mark [Walter], Jeanie [Buss], Rob [Pelinka], JJ [Redick], and the entire Lakers organization for fully supporting me and allowing me to travel to be there.”
Doncic earned his second league scoring title this season with an average of 33.5 points per game and is third with 8.3 assists per game. He surged back into the MVP race with a magical March when he was just the second player to score 600 points in the month, joining Michael Jordan. He had three consecutive games of 40 or more points and 13 of 30 or more.
The Lakers went 3-2 in their final five games without Doncic and backcourt mate Austin Reaves, who suffered an oblique strain in the same game in which Doncic was injured. Both are out indefinitely as the Lakers begin the playoffs Saturday against the Houston Rockets. Doncic traveled to Europe to receive specialized treatment and is expected to rejoin the team Friday.
Doncic is in a tight four-man race for the MVP with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama. Gilgeous-Alexander, who was second in scoring to Doncic with 31.1 points on much more efficient 55.3% shooting, is considered the favorite to win his second consecutive MVP. Jokic was the last repeat MVP, winning his first two of three in 2021 and 2022.
Doncic’s best finish in the MVP voting was third in 2023-24, the last time he led the league in scoring. Despite playing one fewer game than Wembanyama, Doncic played 688 more minutes than the Spurs’ star, who is likely to be a unanimous defensive player of the year.
The controversial 65-game rule was collectively bargained in 2023 with the league pushing back on load management for star players.
Appeals from Doncic and Cunningham were successful, but Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards was denied by an independent arbitrator, the NBA and the NBPA announced. Edwards, who played 60 games, will not be eligible for annual awards.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
