Wembanyama is first true victim of NBA’s new 65-game awards rule

This wasn't supposed to be the effect.
Feb 3, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) walk off the court after a delayed start to the game, as medical personnel check on a fan before the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Feb 3, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) walk off the court after a delayed start to the game, as medical personnel check on a fan before the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The All-Defensive Teams were announced yesterday, and as expected, San Antonio's franchise center, Victor Wembanyama, was nowhere to be found. Sure, we knew this was coming. He didn't reach the 65-game threshold required to qualify for the NBA award season. That rule was never supposed to penalize players like Vic, who crave basketball. He'd live on the hardwood if possible.

Congratulations to the players who made the team, but looking at the voting results and not seeing Wembanyama's name is jarring, and it should call the rule into question entirely.

This isn't the first year the rule has been in place, but it's certainly the first time it's hurt a player who was so obviously above his peers that it seems ridiculous not to include him on this list. He was diagnosed with a blood clot. There's absolutely nothing he could do about that. It's not the kind of thing you can play through. The rule needs to be adjusted.

Wembanyama can be the vehicle of change for a rule that needs it

I can't tell you exactly what the fix should be, but I don't get paid to implement those rules. The 65-game threshold was put into place to stop stars from resting when they're healthy enough to play. It was hurting the product, and it seemed to have worked because stars played more games on average than ever last season when it was first placed into effect.

The only idea I have demands that the NBA take a more active approach to investigating players who sit out when they don't have a season-ending injury. Those who are diagnosed with something that ends their season early should be granted leeway. Maybe a lowered threshold to 41 games played. That way, they've at least played half of the season.

I've heard people blame Coach Popovich for the rampant rest we saw take over the league, but I'd like to remind people that Coach Pop didn't rest guys for no reason. He rested older players who had injury issues, and once they were healthy enough, they played in just about every game possible.

The exception was when the Spurs had crazy schedule inconveniences like being forced to play four games in five nights, for example. Pop kept his guys healthier for longer by limiting their minutes when possible, but those guys played. What happened to the league is not to be blamed on the greatest coach of all time for managing the health of aging players.

If you want to punish Joel Embiid for sitting out when he can go, or Kawhi Leonard for doing the same, that's understandable, but it seems silly to punish everyone because of guys like that. Amen Thompson would not have made the first team, and Rudy Gobert, who wrongly won the Defensive Player of the Year award over Wembanyama last season, wouldn't have made either team.

Guys who don't deserve the accolades are receiving them and getting praise for accomplishments they lucked into. That's not what the NBA is supposed to be. It needs to be fixed.