Speaking on his self-titled podcast, Warriors champion Draymond Green became the latest veteran figure to speak out against the league’s new 65-game minimum eligibility rule. In an attempt to argue against the threshold, Draymond pointed to the 2014-15 season, when he lost to Kawhi Leonard in the Defensive Player of the Year race.
“I once lost a DPOY award to Kawhi Leonard, and I think he played 51 games,” said Green. “You get Joel [Embiid], who comes out there tonight, and he forces it… I don’t really bang with it.”
"Now we got one of the premier faces of this league possibly hurt because he's forcing it"
—@Money23Green isn't rocking with the NBA's new 65-game threshold pic.twitter.com/wAGwDbJ5vc
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) January 31, 2024
Draymond is objectively incorrect here, as Kawhi played 64 games during the 2014-2015 campaign, followed by 72 the following season. Of course, under the new rules, Kawhi would have missed the threshold by one game and Green would have at least one more Defensive Player of the Year award to his name. Somehow, Draymond still sees the rules as a bad thing and he’s one of the growing list of players who is actively campaigning against the change.
NBA Fans Disagree With Draymond
Needless to say, the NBA fans aren’t jiving with Draymond’s take on this. In the eyes of the paying customers, who often spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend the games, showing up to play while healthy should be a requirement for every player, not an optional choice based on certain conditions.
As fans laid it out in the comments, the expectation to show up to work is really the bare minimum and players shouldn’t be rewarded for partial participation.
The league has been in an era of load management. It wasn’t a thing back in the day. It all comes down to this – Don’t show up to work = Not eligible to win awards/get a phat bonus. It’s not that complicated.
— khino (@KevinHoNBA) January 31, 2024
The rules changes may be a direct result of the fans themselves, who have been voicing their frustrations with load management for years now. Many of them are glad to see the league finally taking action against the practice and we could see more rules like this take form over the next few years.
This is what happens when a spoiled player base is held accountable for their end of the deal. Fans are sick of stars sitting out and there should be minimal requirements to just play, let alone win top awards within the league. Less and less people are watching this league.
— Joel (@co0pgoesVr00m) January 31, 2024
There are, of course, legitimate reasons to miss games and it’s unfortunate that players who miss time due to injury will lose their chance for award recognition. But until skipping games stops being so normalized in the league, this kind of reaction is required to ensure maximum participation.
Of course, it’s also important to mention that nobody is forcing Embiid to comply with the rules. If he wants to forfeit his MVP campaign, he could save his energy and take games off going forward to make a real playoff push. But if he wants to be “the best” and win awards like the legends, he’ll need to show up to the games.
NBA Players Are Fighting Back
From a player’s perspective, the new rule isn’t just about awards. Since All-NBA selections and other accolades can often come with massive bonuses, the eligibility requirements are sure to cost some players a lot of money as well. For Green, he’s not comfortable with regular-season awards being determined this way, but he’s not the only star to go public with this opinion.
Tyrese Haliburton, who has also been accused of playing through injury, recently called the change “stupid” before the take was promptly roasted by fans. 76ers role-player Paul Reed also joined the campaign, saying that he “didn’t sign no paperwork” for the 65-game minimum. Needless to say, it’s not a popular move among the players but they better get used to it because this is likely how it will be until the next CBA.
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