Victor Wembanyama should be furious at NBA after they dropped the ball

For all the talk surrounding whether San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama would qualify for end-of-season awards, he managed to do so. Wembanyama appeared in 65 games, including the NBA Cup Finals.

That allows him to qualify for honors such as All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), and even MVP. However, the NBA just decided that the 65-game rule doesn't matter.

They ruled in favor of Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic as well as Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham. They both asked for an exception since each failed to play the 65 games needed to qualify for awards.

Surprisingly enough, the NBA ruled in favor of Doncic and Cunningham, calling into question the point of the 65-game rule.

The NBA's 65-game rule could cost Victor Wembanyama

Although Wemby will qualify for awards this season, the 65-game rule may still cost him. In fact, it could very well cost him a super max contract.

He made all NBA as a rookie and could make it this season, in addition to Defensive Player of the Year. However, thanks to another stupid rule, he has to make All-NBA or win DPOY in two out of three seasons or in back-to-back years.

Because he didn't make either last season, he would have to make All-NBA, win DPOY, or win MVP next season too. That's a ridiculously high bar.

Yes, he's a top 3 player and should achieve two of those three goals, but what if he only plays 63 games instead of 65? He'd be at the mercy of the NBA to decide whether he qualifies for awards. Those two games could be the difference of at least $50 million on his next contract.

Victor Wembanyama should be upset with the NBA

Were he to miss out on a super max, he wouldn't be the only one unhappy. Other teams would be furious since it would save San Antonio at least $10 million annually in salary and more in possible luxury tax payments.

That would also make keeping Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle much easier. The NBA shouldn't want those problems. So what's the solution?

Well, the league should consider getting rid of the rule or at least amend it. I've been a proponent of adding a minutes exception to the rule where players can play either 65 games or play 2000 minutes, whichever comes first.

The NBA must tweak the 65-game rule to fix its flaws

Wembanyama actually played fewer than 2,000 minutes, while both Doncic and Cunningham played more than 2,000 minutes. Meanwhile, had Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey not returned early from injury, he would have missed out on end-of-season awards.

That's despite him leading the NBA in minutes per game. It would have been a joke had he not qualified. If a player plays around 33 minutes per game, then they would surpass 2000 total minutes in 60 games.

For players such as Wembanyama, who played fewer minutes this season while on a minute restriction, they would still need to play around 65 games. That would at least give him two avenues to qualifying for awards.

Otherwise, the 65-game minimum may screw Wembanyama out of a super max contract, and he should be upset at the NBA for such a poorly thought-out rule.

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