Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham are about to be All-NBA players and land on a lot of MVP ballots.
The NBA and NBPA (the players’ union) together agreed that “taking into account the totality of the circumstances for Cunningham and Dončić, each player qualified for awards under the extraordinary circumstances provision in the CBA.” While both men were set to file an extraordinary circumstance challenge, neither had to because the league and union agreed they met the criteria.
That means both men will be postseason award-eligible despite falling short of the league’s 65-game threshold to qualify for awards.
Doncic played in 64 games before an untimely hamstring injury prematurely ended his season (and likely has him out for the first round of the playoffs). His challenge was based on the fact that he missed two games in December for the birth of his daughter, and that qualified as an “extraordinary circumstance.” The league and union agreed.
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Cunningham played in 63 qualifying games this season (64 total), but missed a dozen games near the end of the season due to a collapsed lung (which happened on a flukey play diving for a loose ball). Again, the league agreed that this qualified as an extraordinary circumstance. This decision matters for Cunningham financially: By making an All-NBA team this year (a virtual lock), he will need to make an All-NBA team in either of 2027 of 2028 to qualify for a super-max contract extension (35% of the salary cap instead of 30%) in his next deal. (Note: That does not apply to Doncic because he was traded.)
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards did file an extraordinary circumstances challenge, but an arbitrator denied it. Edwards played in 60 games this season, averaging 28.8 points, 5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
Cunningham, the focal point of the No. 1-seed Pistons’ offense, averaged 23.9 points, 9.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game and is the primary reason they are the No. 1 seed in the East. Doncic led the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points a game, adding 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds a night for the No. 4 seed Lakers.
