Luka Doncic Is Not an All-NBA Player This Season

After news of Luka Doncic’s calf strain sidelining him for at least 15 games, Doncic’s award shelf will be empty of personal awards this year. He already missed eight games earlier this season with an ankle injury, and now, with an additional 15, Doncic will miss at least 23 games. With the NBA’s newly implemented rule that requires players to play 65 games to be eligible for major awards, Doncic is already disqualified from receiving honors. This begs the question of whether the NBA’s rule makes sense.

Obviously, the rule was put in to avoid players sitting out too many games. However, this has not been the cure to load management and now can prevent one of the league’s biggest names from headlining major awards. For example, if Doncic was to play the rest of his games, and a total of 59 games played. He is playing at an MVP level and will likely lead a Mavericks team into the playoffs in a highly competitive Western Conference. Yet, according to the rule, Doncic would not even be able to receive votes.

In the long run, this soils Doncic’s resume. In his young career, he is already a five-time All-NBA player and is creeping towards the MVP conversation more and more. As a player averaging 28.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg, and 7.8 apg, it would be a misfortune to replace him with a lower-caliber player during the end-of-the-year awards. Noticing how much of an impact Doncic has on the game, there should absolutely be consideration for an MVP-caliber player who was available in nearly 70% of games.