NBA Grants Award Eligibility to Two Players Despite Missing Games

The NBA announced that two players who fell short of the league's 65-game threshold for award eligibility have been granted exceptions. This decision was made shortly before the start of the postseason, which is scheduled to begin this weekend. One player, who appeared in 64 games this season, missed two games due to the birth of his second child and traveled internationally during that time.

After filing an Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge, the NBA restored those two missed games, making him eligible for all regular-season awards. The other player, who missed 12 games due to a collapsed lung sustained on March 17, was also granted eligibility.

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) stated that both players meet the criteria for annual awards for the 2025–26 NBA regular season in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

6 steals per game. His team secured the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, having reached as high as the No. 3 seed before he sustained a hamstring injury earlier in April. The team will begin its playoff series against an opponent starting Saturday without this player and another starting guard, both of whom are expected to miss the first round due to injuries sustained in the same game on April 2.

The eligibility ruling allows both players to be considered for awards that can influence player salaries and contract extensions, including potential supermax deals in the future.