Anthony Edwards may not be eligible for All-NBA this season, as he needs to play in eight of the Minnesota Timberwolves' final nine games of the season to hit the 65-game mark. He has played in 58 games this season, but because he played just three minutes against Indiana way back on Oct. 26, that didn't count. Players must play at least 20 minutes in 63 games and are allowed to play at least 15 minutes in two other contests.
The already controversial rule has looked even worse recently, not just because Edwards is out with a knee injury. Cade Cunningham suffered a collapsed lung, so because of that, he won't make an All-NBA team. You'd think that would've been enough for Adam Silver to at least think about reconsidering the rule, but nope! Look no further than what he said on Wednesday (subscription required):
“We always knew when there’s a line you draw, that somebody’s going to fall on the other side of that line. And it may feel unfair in that particular instance. Let’s see what happens at the end of this year. By the way, Cade Cunningham is an incredible player. I’m sorry that he’s injured and can’t wait to see him back on the floor, but we also have to remember that to the extent that one player is no longer eligible, some other player will then be All-NBA and will slot into that spot. So I’m not ready to stand here saying I don’t think it’s working. I think it is working.”
Adam Silver still thinks 65-game rule is "working"
Look, it's not like we had much hope in Silver to take the right stance. He wasn't going to say that the league would abolish the 65-game rule this summer, but to say that he thinks it's still working, after acknowledging Cunningham's collapsed lung, was foolish, even for him.
Injuries are, unfortunately, part of the game, but a collapsed lung is in a whole different territory. It's somewhat similar to last year, when Victor Wembanyama's season ended in February due to deep vein thrombosis. He played just 46 games, but was still the best defensive player in the league. He wasn't eligible for the award, though.
Edwards possibly not making All-NBA is bad look for the league
There is no world in which Edwards isn't a top-15 player in the league. He should be making an All-NBA team for the third straight year after finishing on the second team the past two seasons, which is where he'll likely finish again this year if he's eligible.
Punishing one of the most available star players in the league for missing what should be roughly two weeks (he could return on Saturday!) due to knee inflammation makes no sense. Would the NBA rather Edwards have pushed himself to keep playing, and perhaps risk a serious injury that'd prevent him from playing in the postseason?
The rule was implemented in 2023 to address load management, and while that is a valid concern for the league, it hasn't achieved its intended effect, regardless of what Silver said. There have been too many deserving players who have unfairly missed out on end-of-season honors because of it, and Edwards could fall on that list this year.
It needs to be tweaked at the very least. If Silver's thinking is any indication, though, it will continue to do more harm than good.