The NBA has already made Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham a very rich man.
A ruling by NBA commissioner Adam Silver just made him even richer.
“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,” ESPN’s Shams Charania wrote on his official X account on Thursday. “Doncic missed 2 games in December due to the birth of his child abroad and Cunningham had a collapsed lung. Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards filed a challenge as well and his case was advanced to an independent arbitrator, but was denied and is not eligible for awards, sources said.”
Cunningham was just 1 game short of the 65-game mark and returned for the final 3 games of the regular season, playing just over the required 20 minutes in each game as he averaged 23.9 points and 9.9 assists. Doncic also played in 64 games.
Edwards played in 61 games.
The Pistons have the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs for the 1st time since the 2006-2007 season and will face the winner of Friday’s play-in game between the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets in the 1st round.
Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, saw the total value of his contract increase by $45 million after earning All-NBA Team honors in 2025 — a 5-year, $269.09 million contract extension he signed in July 2024.
Earning All-NBA Team honors permits teams to increase a player’s “supermax” salary up to 35 percent of the team’s total salary cap space.
Doncic Ruling Will Surely Cause Controversy
Doncic dominated like few players in NBA history this season.
From The Athletic: “In his first full season with the Lakers, Dončić averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists,” The Athletic’s He led the league in shots made and taken per game. He converted 36.6 percent of 10.8 3-point attempts per game, and his 694 3-point shots are 149 more than any other Laker in franchise history has attempted in a season.”
While there will be plenty of people who bite back against the rulings to allow Cunningham and Doncic to earn All-NBA Team honors, the argument against Doncic should be much more vociferous.
“Maybe Luka should look in the mirror,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said on April 5. “How about this? Maybe behave a little better during the game. Maybe set a better role model example to the kids out there. Maybe don’t get 16 technicals. Maybe if you didn’t get 16 technicals, you would have played 65 games already and you’d be on the All-NBA Team.”
Social Media Reacts to NBA Ruling
NBA fans online reacted to Silver’s ruling in favor of Cunningham and Doncic in rapid fashion. Not all of it was favorable.
“They allow you to miss 17 games!” Podcast host Craig Carton said after the ruling. “If you really cared about postseason awards & the supermax, it ain’t hard to play 65 games!”
“If Cade Cunningham wasn’t bundled into this appeal, the NBA wouldn’t have dared to pass it,” NBA influencer Gurdaat wrote on their official X account. “This is a move designed specifically to keep the Lakers revenue relevant in the postseason awards cycle. We are officially in the era where being a Laker matters more than actually playing the games.”
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