Joe Dumars on 65-game rule: Unintended consequences are inevitable

The NBA’s implementation of a 65-game minimum rule for regular-season awards was aimed at encouraging players to participate in more games.

However, it is now raising concerns as players like Joel Embiid and Tyrese Haliburton may become ineligible for awards despite their potentially deserving performances.

“You’re always gonna have unintended consequences, that’s the first thing,” NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday afternoon.

“The second thing, you kind of knew that the first couple of guys that were going to get close to that mark, it will become an issue. So it probably was going to become a talking point at some point.

“It could’ve been a month from now. The number is what the number is. I’m not surprised, [though].”

Despite facing criticism, Joe Dumars reiterated that the 65-game rule was collectively bargained as part of the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

“Lest we forget, this was collectively bargained, players’ association, signed off by the owners, signed off by the competition committee,” Dumars said.

“And we’ve updated the numbers. We throw a lot of numbers around, and at the end of the day, everybody landed on 65 and said, ‘You know what, that’s 20 percent, 20 percent of the season basically. That’s fair.’ Everybody in the ecosystem signed off on this.”