NBA Finally Decides Whether Luka Dončić, Cade Cunningham Are Eligible for MVP, Other League Awards

Dončić and Cunningham appealed through an "Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge." | William Liang-Imagn Images

Luka Dončić and Cade Cunningham are having a great morning.

On Thursday, the NBA ruled in favor of both guards’ appeals against the league's 65-game rule, which stipulates that a player must play at least 65 regular-season games to be eligible for honors like the MVP award and All-NBA teams. ESPN's Shams Charania was first to break the news.

Both Cunningham and Dončić pushed back against the rule under an "extraordinary circumstances challenge."

Meanwhile, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who also filed a challenge and saw his case advanced to an independent arbitrator, was denied, per Charania. That means Edwards is not eligible for awards.

In early April, Dončić injured his hamstring in what would have been his 64th game of the 2025 campaign; soon after, it was announced that the issue would keep him out for the rest of the regular season. The star also missed two contests on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5 to fly back to Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter. Had he played in those December games, however, he would have hit the 65-game benchmark. He also would have reached the threshold were he not suspended for one game for his 16th technical foul at the end of March.

As of this writing, he leads the league in scoring with 33.5 points.

“Luka has gone to great lengths to show up for his team and this league this season,” his agent, Bill Duffy, wrote in a statement, when Dončić's plan to appeal was first reported. “His record-breaking season deserves to be noted in the history books, despite last night’s unfortunate injury and other extraordinary circumstances. We look forward to working with the NBAPA and the league office to ensure a fair outcome in this matter.”

On Thursday, once news broke that his appeal was upheld, Dončić shared a message of gratitude to both the league and the Players' Association for the "fair decision" and "for advocating on my behalf," respectively.

I am grateful to the NBPA for advocating on my behalf and to the NBA for their fair decision. It was so important to me to be present for the birth of my daughter in December and I appreciate Mark, Jeanie, Rob, JJ, and the entire Lakers organization for fully supporting me and…

— Luka Doncic (@lukadoncic) April 16, 2026

“I am grateful to the NBPA for advocating on my behalf and to the NBA for their fair decision,” Dončić wrote. “It was so important to me to be present for the birth of my daughter in December and I appreciate Mark, Jeanie, Rob, JJ, and the entire Lakers organization for fully supporting me and allowing me to travel to be there. This season has been so special to me because of what my teammates and I have been able to accomplish, and I am honored to have the opportunity to be considered for the league’s end-of-season awards.”

Cunningham, meanwhile, had appeared in 61 games before suffering from a collapsed lung in March. He missed 12 games as a result, and finished what had been a star-making campaign (23.9 points/5.5 rebounds/9.9. assists) with a total of 63 games.

"Cade has delivered a first-team All-NBA season," Cunningham's agent, Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management, said at the end of March. "If he falls just short of an arbitrary games-played threshold due to legitimate injury, it should not disqualify him from recognition he has clearly earned over the course of the season. The league should be rewarding excellence, not enforcing rigid cutoffs that ignore context. An exception needs to be made."

As the whole debacle would suggest, the 65-game rule—initially intended as a way of combating tanking—has prompted plenty of consternation as of late, considering how it could have rendered some of the league's biggest stars ineligible for the most high-profile of awards ... and for reasons entirely out of their control.

Spurs' big man Victor Wembanyama, for instance, only just played his 65th game a few weeks ago, and could have shockingly missed out on DPOY honors after battling a calf strain back in December. Thankfully, however, he is safe—and won't have to go to the same lengths as Dončić and Cunningham, who can now compete alongside him.

What is an “extraordinary circumstances challenge?”

Cade Cunningham received a waiver from the NBA’s 65-game rule for awards eligibility after suffering a collapsed lung late in the regular season. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The extraordinary circumstances challenge is a contingency included in the NBA's 65-game participation policy, allowing players to appeal their exclusion from regular-season awards under review from an independent expert jointly selected by the NBA and the NBAPA.

In the case of a winning challenge, the expert would determine that “it was impracticable for [the player] to play in one or more of the Regular Season game(s) that he missed during such season”; that the player would have played in at least 65 regular season games “if he had played in every game that he missed due to the extraordinary circumstances”; and that, as a result of said “extraordinary circumstances,” it would be "unjust to exclude the player for award eligibility.”

Here’s the language https://t.co/EWJLrB1lkj pic.twitter.com/xNi3yygzOq

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) April 3, 2026

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