San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama’s pursuit of the MVP award is still alive. Wembanyama is officially eligible for end-of-season awards after playing at least 20 minutes in Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Wembanyama played 26:13 minutes in the Spurs’ 139-120 win over the Mavericks, scoring 40 points, News.az reports, citing Telegraph.

The 22-year-old center was in danger of missing the 65-game threshold after sustaining a rib injury during the team’s 115-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on April 6.

With just three games left in the regular season following that injury, Wembanyama didn’t have much time to recover if he wanted to be eligible for the NBA’s end-of-year awards. He needed just one more game to be eligible for those awards.

On Friday, Wembanyama was honest about hitting that mark.

“If I had had 65 [games] before, I would, for sure, not have played,” he said on the broadcast postgame.

Thanks to a rule agreed to by the players and league in the latest collective-bargaining agreement, NBA players need to participate in 65 games in a single season in order to be eligible for end-of-year awards. The league introduced the measure as a way to prevent tanking, and ensure star players take the court when healthy.

But this season, the rule has taken some prominent names out of award consideration, including Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Anthony Edwards, among many others.

While those players didn’t necessarily have a shot to jump into MVP consideration due to those injuries, other superstars with more realistic shots at earning an end-of-year nod were also affected by the rule. Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham won’t be eligible for All-NBA honors due to a lung issue. Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić, who put his name in the MVP race after a blazing hot month of play, will not qualify for the award due to a hamstring injury. Dončić will miss out on eligibility by just one game.

Wembanyama found himself in the exact same spot. Following the team’s April 6 game, Wembanyama had played in 63 games this season. While that’s technically two games away from the league’s 65-game threshold, his appearance in the NBA Cup championship game counts toward that total, even though his stats from that game do not. Teams that play in the NBA Cup final finish the season with 83 total games, which is why the league doesn’t allow those stats to carry over. That put Wembanyama one game away from qualifying for end-of-year awards.

The way the rule is written, Wembanyama had to play at least 20 minutes in one of the Spurs’ final three regular-season games in order to be eligible for the award. The NBA requires 20 minutes of play for a player to accrue a “game played” during the season. Players are allowed two exceptions, but Wembanyama used his final one the night he sustained the rib injury. Because of that, the Spurs couldn’t send him out on the court for the tipoff and then take him out of the game. He needed to play significant time in at least one contest down the stretch.

Prior to the injury, Wembanyama was considered a strong candidate — though not the favorite — to win the MVP award. Wembanyama openly spoke about his desire to win the award, laying out his argument for why he should be the top choice. Even after that plea, Wembanyama still sits behind Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the race, per the betting odds.

After a handful of big names were eliminated from end-of-year award contention — but before Wembanyama’s injury — the union called for the abolishment or reformation of the 65-game rule. In a statement, it argued that “far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota.”

Wembanyama’s injury only strengthens the union’s case. While Wembanyama was ultimately able to come back and qualify for end-of-year awards, both the league and union might find an opportunity to tweak the language of the rule after so many big-name players found themselves on the wrong side of the policy this season.

News.Az 

By Faig Mahmudov