NBA Grants MVP Eligibility to Doncic, Cunningham Under ‘Extraordinary Circumstances’

Luka Doncic eligible for MVP after league waives game minimum 

Doncic and Cunningham cleared for MVP race even with 64 and 63 games. League cited injuries and personal reasons. Edwards, with 60 games, misses out.  

Doncic, Cunningham cleared for NBA MVP race despite missing 65-game cutoff; Edwards denied...

Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham have been deemed eligible for the NBA’s MVP award despite not meeting the 65-game minimum required to be in contention for the honor, the league said Thursday.

Los Angeles Lakers star Doncic and Detroit Pistons guard Cunningham each came up just short of the games threshold needed for the NBA’s end-of-season awards, with Cunningham appearing in 63 games and Doncic in 64.

But the pair will still be included in the NBA’s tightly contested MVP race after the league and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) ruled that “extraordinary circumstances” applied to each player.

Cunningham’s regular-season total was cut short after he suffered a collapsed lung in March, causing him to miss 12 games.

Doncic, who was sidelined for several games due to a hamstring injury earlier this month after fueling a late-season Lakers resurgence, also missed two games to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia.

“The NBA and NBPA agreed that, taking into account the totality of the circumstances for Cunningham and Doncic, each player qualified for awards under the extraordinary circumstances provision in the CBA (collective bargaining agreement),” the NBA said in a statement.

Just in: The NBA and NBPA have ruled in favor of Lakers' Luka Doncic and Pistons' Cade Cunningham on their Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge for the 65-game award rule, making both eligible for all 2025-26 season honors such as MVP and All-NBA teams, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/gUYdUn1q4k

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 16, 2026

However, the league denied a request from Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards to be added to the awards pool.

Edwards played 60 games and submitted a request for inclusion under the same “extraordinary circumstances” rules.

“Edwards' challenge was denied and, as a result, he is not eligible for annual awards for the 2025/26 NBA regular season,” the NBA said.

This season’s MVP race is seen as one of the tightest in years, with Doncic and Cunningham now part of a field of contenders headlined by Oklahoma City Thunder’s reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama, and the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic.