Why Luka Doncic, Cade Cunningham are eligible for NBA awards - but not Anthony Edwards

Why Luka Doncic, Cade Cunningham are eligible for NBA awards - but not Anthony Edwards originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The NBA's 65-game rule for award eligibility has been a hot topic to close out the 2025-26 regular season.

With plenty of stars either falling short of the qualifications, or coming close to missing it, calls for changes to the rule have been rampant. Based on the awards rules, two of the most notable snubs for All-NBA teams, and potential MVP contention, were set to be Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham. But on Thursday, both got positive news in that regard.

The NBA announced that Doncic and Cunningham were ruled eligible for awards despite coming up short of 65 games played — but Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was denied his challenge to the rule. Here's why Doncic and Cunningham will be awards-eligible now, but Edwards will not. SN's NBA HQ: Live NBA scores | Updated NBA standings | Full NBA schedule Why Luka Doncic can win NBA awards Doncic played in a total of 64 games this season before a hamstring injury sidelined him for 11 games to finish the regular season.

Coming up just one game shy of the awards-eligibility mark, Doncic's team reportedly then filed an appeal for his eligibility because he missed two games in December for the birth of his daughter in Slovenia. Per The Athletic, Doncic's team was aware of the clause in the NBA's 65-game rule that allows appeals for an exception to the rule, and filed a protest to him being set to miss out on MVP contention or an All-NBA team. “Luka has gone to great lengths to show up for his team and this league this season,” Doncic's agent, Billy Duffy, said in a statement to The Athletic about the appeal.