It’s small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but one trickled-down effect of Nikola Jokic’s injury is that he will likely now fall short of the NBA’s 65-games played minimum to be eligible for awards. That means that if Jokic misses 18 games, he won’t be able to win MVP, or any other regular-season award, and he won’t be eligible for any honors like All-NBA.
In other words, one of the greatest players of all time, having one of the best seasons of his career, may go down in history without a single accolade for the season, thanks to new rules that were put in place to combat load management.
The Joker is the last player who would be accused of load management and had, in fact, played in all 32 of the Nuggets’ games this season before hyperextending his knee. He has never played in fewer than 69 games in a season, but it appears that, barring an earlier-than-expected return from his bone bruise, Jokic will fall short of 65 games this season.
Jokic has finished first or second in MVP voting in each of the past five seasons and has been named to the first or second-team All-NBA in seven straight seasons. But thanks to a new rule and a hyperextended knee, those streaks seem all but certain to come to an end.
NBA now facing doomsday scenario
This was the nightmare scenario for the league when they changed this rule, and they are now facing a reality where the best player falls just short of this arbitrary minimum, and will make this year a historical outlier when we look back. The players who will make Third-Team All-NBA over Jokic will be laughable and will force the league to reconsider this rule.
For the league, it’s not just a Jokic problem, although he is the most heavily impacted player by far. We’ve also seen various injuries to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, and other stars that are threatening to make these awards and All-NBA teams look silly and somewhat denigrate the value and sanctity of these very honors that have become crutches and lead talking points when discussing legacies, historical resumes, and standing in history among basketball legends and icons.
So while it’s not a big deal, it also is. If Jokic plays in 15 fewer games than SGA, that’s probably a big enough gap to keep him from winning the MVP with or without this rule. But you’re telling me 60 games of Jokic isn’t better than 70 games of (no disrespect to any of these guys, but come on) Karl-Anthony Towns, Julius Randle, Jalen Duren, or whatever big man ultimately steals his All-NBA spot? Give me a break.