When the NBA introduced the 65-game rule, it was their way of combatting players sitting out of games due to ‘load management’. At the end of the day, the NBA is a business and wants the best product available for consumers. That was unfortunately not the case, leading to the integration of the minimum games threshold.
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The downside of the 65-game minimum is that it has eliminated deserving players who simply didn’t meet the games played mark due to injury. A great example is Victor Wembanyama, who wasn’t eligible for any end-of-season accolades last season. He should have a Defensive Player of the Year under his belt already. It seems Cade Cunningham is joining Wemby in the snubbed department this season.
It’s just not be right to leave him out of any of the All-NBA teams, considering how great he and the Pistons have been. Naturally, this has ended up frustrating a lot of fans, analysts and players. Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green recently called out the league management over their pointlessly stubborn rule.
“It just doesn’t fix the issue,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “Here’s a guy who’s done everything right, has a collapsed lung, and he’s going to miss All-NBA because this dumba** rule that does not fix the issue.”
Draymond Green says Cade Cunningham is not going to make All-NBA team because of this dumba** 65-game rule:
“It just doesn’t fix the issue. Like it does not fix the issue at all. And so here’s a guy who’s done everything right, has a collapsed lung, and he’s going to miss… https://t.co/scDpUNm2hS pic.twitter.com/iBis1hsa3u
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) March 20, 2026
It’s quite clear that Green isn’t a fan of the 65-game rule. Cunningham’s snub would be a great stain, but he isn’t even the only player on the brink of missing out on the games played mark. Anthony Edwards has been seen as an All-NBA player this season as well. Unfortunately, he could miss out on All-NBA due to an ongoing knee injury.
Green understands the NBA’s intentions, but believes there has to be a better way to combat load management. If things continue to stay the same, players like Cunningham will continue to suffer consequences which they don’t deserve.
“It’s just ridiculous. So here we go again with these unintended consequences,” Green proclaimed.
There haven’t been any murmurs that NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the board of governors will look into changing the rule. Hopefully, all of this backlash will spark a movement for change, so that the players who deserve the recognition receive it.
