NBPA Demands 65 Game Exception for Cade Cunningham

The NBPA is urging a change to the NBA’s 65-game award rule after Detroit’s Cade Cunningham was diagnosed with a collapsed lung and will miss at least eight games. Cunningham has played 61 games, averages 24.5 points and 9.9 assists, and helped the Pistons to 50 wins. His agent said, "Cade has delivered a first-team All-NBA season." Merlin sees the old rule clashing with real life. The 65-game limit was meant to curb load management, but it can freeze out players who earn recognition while sidelined by injury. Joel Embiid’s 2023-24 example looms large. The NBPA’s push will raise pressure, yet a midseason rule rewrite is unlikely; still, the debate now has real momentum.