Bizarre NBA rule makes Knicks guard ineligible for award

By all accounts, Donte DiVincenzo must be one of many favorites to win the NBA’s Most Improved Participant award for the 2023-24 season. 

In his first season in New York, the sharpshooting guard upped his manufacturing from 9.4 to fifteen.5 factors, drained a franchise-high 283 threes and have become an important starter for a second-seeded Knicks squad many are selecting to succeed in the Jap Convention Finals.

The Villanova product had such a powerful season that his 283 threes ranked No. 3 in the league behind solely Stephen Curry (357) and Luka Doncic (284).

Sadly, DiVincenzo cannot be rewarded for his improved season. 

In keeping with ESPN’s Chris Herring, DiVincenzo is ineligible for the award attributable to a caveat within the NBA’s new 65-game rule for gamers to qualify for season honors. 

Though DiVincenzo crossed the edge of 65 video games, he performed over 20 minutes in solely 62 of these appearances. The league mandates that gamers log not less than 20 minutes from the 65 video games that depend towards the award. 

Technically, DiVincenzo averaged 29.1 minutes per sport — together with a whopping 52 minutes in Sunday’s regular-season finale in opposition to Chicago — however didn’t play not less than 20 minutes in 65 video games. 

“DiVincenzo had 66 video games through which he logged 19.5 minutes or extra — together with 4 appearances that fell lower than 30 seconds in need of the 20-minute whole — however the NBA does not spherical up official minute totals,” Herring defined in his report. 

The 65-game rule, put into place as a part of the NBA’s new CBA, has been broadly criticized by followers and analysts alike. It is unknown if the NBA will make any amendments to the rule going into the 2024-25 season. Throughout February’s All-Star break, NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned the league was taking a wait-and-see strategy. 

“I am not able to say it isn’t working,” Silver mentioned, via IndyStar. “Video games are up. Accidents are down. Whether or not that is significant, I do not know. We’ll have a look at it on the finish of the season.”