NBA Sees Impacts from Recently Implemented Collective Bargaining Agreement

Written By Talia Thibodeau

On April 30th of 2023, the National Basketball Association ratified the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which took effect on July 1st. 

This CBA, which runs through the 2029-2030 season, enacted a number of new rules regarding salary caps, free agency, trades, awards, and so on. Teams have the ability to opt out of the CBA before the 2028-2029 season.  

One rule in particular, specifically regarding awards, states that a player must play in at least 65 regular-season games  (20 minutes or more) to be eligible for awards such as Most Valuable Player, All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year, All-Defense, Most Improved Player, etc. 

Initially, the NBA enacted this seemingly harmless rule to discourage load management, which occurs when teams rest players to prevent future injuries, extend careers, and just simply give players a rest. However, in the past, load management has caused some star players to miss an extended amount of games which the league wants to understandably prevent.

It seems, although, that when this rule was put into place, a number of factors were not considered- including injuries. 

Each standard team in the NBA plays a total of 82 games during the regular season. Between the 30 teams in the league, this means that one season consists of a minimum of 1,230 games. 

Throughout these six months and 1,230 games, it is next to impossible to prevent any injuries, especially for players who are competing in every game, for almost the entirety of the game.

So far this season, there are a number of star players already that are not able to win any awards, including Ja Morant, Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, Bradley Beal, Zach Lavine, and now Joel Embiid who is out with a knee injury. 

For players like Marcus Smart, who averaged 14.5 Points Per Game, 4.3 Assists Per Game, and 2.1 Steals Per Game in the 20 games he was able to participate in, there is no doubt that in any given season, Smart could be named to the All-Defensive team. However, due to his recent foot and right finger injury, he is unable to be brought up for consideration.

Further, when looking at players such as Tyrese Haliburton, who has been recovering from a hamstring strain, the rule is already affecting him- and there is nothing he can do about it. Because Haliburton has already missed 14 games this season, it means that the max amount of games he would be able to play in is 68. If he suffers another injury or misses four more games, he is ineligible for any awards. 

For many players, including Haliburton, this also impacts their contracts. Haliburton specifically could be frustrated seeing that he has more than $40 million riding on his performance. This past offseason, Haliburton signed a five-year max contract extension with the Pacers, which begins at 25% of the 2024-45 season salary cap if he does not make an All-NBA team, and 30% if he does.  

For players such as Jaren Jackson Jr., who was the 2022-23 Defensive Player of the year, has spent most of the season as the favorite to win the award for the second consecutive season in a row. However, even if he plays in the remaining games on his schedule, the most total games he can play this season is 64. This makes him ineligible for the award, and the supermax eligibility that comes with it, and gives the award to someone that may not deserve it as much.

Photo By: NBA

As the season continues and throughout its completion, there is a strong probability the All-NBA and All-Defense teams are going to look very different compared to what fans are used to. If the rule continues to stay in place, there is no doubt that contracts, salaries, playing time, and emotions for players will fluctuate continuously.

Talia Thibodeau
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