NBA Fact or Fiction: Is the 65-game rule an All-NBA disaster?

Each week during the 2023-24 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether the trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.

[Last week: Can the Oklahoma City Thunder win it all without playoff scars?]

This week’s topic: The 65-game rule is an All-NBA disaster

We are just weeks from the end of the regular season, so let us take an early look at the All-NBA landscape to discuss the 65-game rule, which requires players to appear in at least 65 games to qualify for the honor, and the supermax stipulation, which requires players to make All-NBA in order to qualify for a bigger contract.

ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (67 of 68 games), Oklahoma City Thunder (48-20, 1st in West)

• Giannis Antetokounmpo (65 of 70 games), Milwaukee Bucks (45-25, 2nd in East)

• Luka Dončić (61 of 70 games), Dallas Mavericks (41-29, 6th in West)

• Nikola Jokić (68 of 70 games), Denver Nuggets (49-21, 2nd in West)

• Jayson Tatum (65 of 69 games), Boston Celtics (55-14, 1st in East)

If these five players, in some order, are not on your MVP ballot, you might want to rethink your choices.

The 65-game rule has no bearing on this list. The only player who would have challenged any of these guys is Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, and he has not played since the end of January. In no world would someone who has played only 34 games challenge for a spot on the All-NBA first team. Scottie Pippen in 1997-98 and Yao Ming in 2006-07 are the only ones to play fewer than 50 games and make an All-NBA roster in an 82-game season. Neither made the first team, and both at least played half the year.

Injuries would have claimed Embiid’s All-NBA status, regardless of a 65-game rule.

Gilgeous-Alexander, 25, is averaging a 31-6-6 on 54/37/88 shooting splits and leading the league in steals per game (2.0), pushing one of the league’s youngest rosters into first place in the Western Conference. Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP averaging a 31-11-6 on better than 60% shooting from the field for the East’s second-place team. Dončić, also 25, has been on the first team for four years running, and he’s nearly averaging a triple-double (34-9-10) while leading the NBA in scoring. Jokić should probably be the three-time defending MVP, and he’s averaging a 26-12-9 on 58/35/83 splits for the West’s No. 2 seed.

I have heard some quibbles about whether Tatum deserves the fifth spot, but there should be none. The Celtics own the NBA’s best record by more than six games, and Tatum is unquestionably their top option. He’s averaging a 27-8-5 for a team on pace to win 65 games and submit one of the best net ratings in history. Sure, Tatum’s numbers are down slightly from last season, when he made his second straight appearance on the first team, but he is also sacrificing touches in a starting five that boasts…