Walking wounded: Which NBA stars are ineligible for end-of-season awards?
A rise in load management-related absences to the league's marquee players presented Adam Silver with the latest challenge of his decade-long tenure as NBA commissioner.
Silver responded ahead of the 2023-24 campaign by introducing criteria for the league's end-of-season awards in accordance with the new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players' association.
Players must play no fewer than 20 minutes in 65 games to be under consideration for Most Valuable Player and other end-of-season awards. Players who suffered season-ending injuries were required to feature in 62 games.
With the regular season complete, here's a list of marquee players who might have been up for individual honors were it not for the games-played criteria:
* Honors represents the number of times the player made an All-Star team, All-NBA team, All-Rookie team, All-Defensive team, or won any of the NBA's individual awards (MVP, DPOY, etc.).
The chart only includes games of 20 or more minutes played, per eligibility criteria. Khris Middleton (10 games of fewer than 20 minutes) and Jamal Murray (three games) are among those affected by this rule.