Draymond Green claims Joel Embiid played through injury due to pressure of 65-game threshold

The NBA decided to implement a rule this season that establishes that players must participate in a certain number of matches to be considered eligible for major awards at the end of the year. However, midway through this campaign, lots of athletes have been complaining about the newest regulation. 

One of the last to voice out their frustration was Draymond Green, who took his thoughts to his own podcast show and said that this 65-game threshold is forcing players to play while injured. He was mostly talking about Joel Embiid, who played against him on Tuesday night despite the Sixers center dealing with a knee injury and even had to leave the contest after a collision.

“Joel comes out there tonight and he forces it,” claimed the Warriors forward. “Now we’ve got one of our premier faces in this league, the MVP of our league, possibly hurt for an extended period of time because he’s forcing it.”

Draymond caused a NASTY collision with Embiid 😬

(via @NBCSWarriors) pic.twitter.com/zNyO3UWKXe

— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) January 31, 2024

Green also took a dig at the league, by saying that since this rule wasn’t established in previous years, it inevitably changes the way people will judge past winners of these awards. For example, he mentioned an award he lost back in 2015.

“Guys didn’t face those rules before…Those lists are the same,” Draymond recalled. “I once lost a Defensive Player of the Year award to Kawhi Leonard and I think he played 51 games.” He then explained how he finished in second place despite playing in 79 games, while the award’s owner only participated in 64.

When asked about the newest player policy, Tyrese Haliburton explained why he believes this threshold is rather unfair. “I think it’s a stupid rule, like plenty of the guys in the league, but this is what the owners want, so as players, we gotta do our job and play in 65 games if we’re able to,” the Indiana star said after Monday’s practice.

“So, that’s what I gotta do, take care of my body to be able to play in those games, and I think you’re seeing other players in the league kind of face the same thing. As long as the owners are happy,” he added.

NBA exec Joe Dumars admits the 65-game threshold will have ‘unintended consequences’ on certain stars

As a few stars are already coming close to missing out on award eligibility, due to the 65-game threshold for honors, league executive Joe Dumars discussed the newest regulation and announced it will have its “unintended consequences.”

The reigning MVP Joel Embiid, who many believe is the NBA’s best player midway through the season, is only games away from missing out from extending his dominance.

“You’re always gonna have unintended consequences, that’s the first thing,” Dumars told the press 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.”

Another star who is close to passing the limit of matches is Indiana’s Haliburton. “It could’ve been a month from now. The number is what the number is. I’m not surprised,” concluded the executive.