The NBA’s spotlight has steadily shifted beyond its American core, with the league now driven by global superstars like Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Shai’s excellence over two back-to-back seasons has been clear and consistent, but he has an edge beyond production alone for the MVP race. Injuries have placed both Jokic and Antetokounmpo in danger of falling short of the 65-game requirement, allowing eligibility to weigh as heavily as performance. That reality has reignited league-wide debate, and this time, it has drawn pointed commentary from LeBron James.

Recently, in the latest episode of the ‘Mind The Game’ podcast, LeBron James was in the company of Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, discussing the problems with the 65-game rule. The Lakers veteran highlighted the issues that come with it and also explained how much the game has changed since the Michael Jordan era back in the 1980-90s.

“I want people to understand that playing 82 games in the 80s and 90s is not the same as playing 82 games in the 2020s. It’s just not. The way we play, the level of pace, the speed at which we are playing, that is a different game now. A lot of soft tissue injuries are happening now because of it,” LeBron explained.

The game is much faster now. 29 out of 30 teams are averaging more than 100 possessions per game this season. To put matters into perspective, only 13 teams averaged 100 possessions per game back in the 2015-16 season, per BR, highlighting the change in speed, which has also brought different sorts of injuries to players.

While LeBron does have a case in here, there are still players from the ’80s and ’90s like Jordan himself, who remained extremely fit throughout their careers. His Airness featured in all 82 games in a season nine times, above 80 games in 11 seasons, and below the 75 mark only thrice across his 15-year-long NBA career, showcasing his fitness and dedication to the game.

LeBron also spoke about how the game has changed since he entered the league.

“When I came into the league, some of the biggest concerns of injuries were a high ankle sprain,” the 41-year-old added. “You were afraid of stepping on someone’s ankle because there were 4-5 guys sitting on the paint…. But now you don’t see that often. The game has changed. But now the high ankle sprain is the calf issue. Hopefully, we can get a handle on that from a medical standpoint.”

Speaking about injuries, apart from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, other notable names who are in the race for the MVP and the All-NBA, like Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Victor Wembanyama, Joel Embiid, and Anthony Davis, have all dealt with injuries this season and may not meet the 65-game threshold to be eligible for the award.

“I am looking at this list right now, we got one of our biggest names, Nikola Jokic, we got Giannis, Wembanyama, we also got Steph miss games, Kawhi miss games, (Alperen) Sengun, obviously AR (Austin Reaves), my teammate. Jalen Williams is out again. Guys going to miss All-NBAs because of that. You can’t tell me that Jokic is not All-NBA now because he has missed 30 games… This guy’s averaging 29, 13, and 14 or something like that,” LeBron highlighted.

Jokic was the favorite for the MVP award until he suffered a knee hyperextension. He was averaging 29.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, 11.0 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 64.3% from the field. He is expected to return to the court at the end of January, but things could be tight.

It would be baffling if the Serbian misses out on All-NBA teams despite having such a dominant campaign up until now.

Overall, some of LeBron’s opinions are controversial, but there’s also a logical side to this, as plenty of players are already getting affected by the 65-game rule, and it is not limited to just accolades like MVP or All-NBA.

LeBron & Haliburton discuss the adverse effects of the 65-game rule in player contracts and legacies

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who is currently on the sidelines with an injury, also shared his dislike for the 65-game rule implemented by the NBA for load management.

The rule almost threw him off his supermax contract, as he had to play 65 games to be eligible for All-NBA, which was imperative to get his desired deal. He eventually managed it somehow, but he revealed that he talked with Commissioner Adam Silver.

“So I had to play 65 games to make All-NBA to be eligible for the super max (contract). I said I didn’t like it at that time, and I still feel that way. I have talked with Commissioner Silver. Told him how, from a financial standpoint, it can hurt so many people. Especially for guys like me at that time. It was LaMelo and me (then) who were trying to get that supermax,” the Pacers star shared.

LeBron also reiterated the same emotion and believes that this rule can affect players and their families.

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Besides this, Haliburton raised another serious topic where he touched upon legacies getting massively altered just because players failed to clear the 65-game threshold despite being fantastic players and having exceptional seasons.

“The biggest point is legacy talk, because in 20-30 years, when I’m not playing and when my kids compare eras or something, and they are going over the list of accolades. They could tell me that this player has made All-NBA so many times, but he was ineligible, but they don’t know, and that could skew it in that way, which I don’t necessarily appreciate in any way,” Haliburton added.

The Pacers star also believes it is Victor Wembanyama who would force the NBA to make adjustments if he misses out on winning multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards for the 65-game rule.

Opinions and debates aside, the league is moving forward with the 65-game rule for now. Still, growing pushback from players and veterans could eventually force Adam Silver and the league office to take another look. Whether those concerns lead to real change remains unclear, but the rule has already stirred discomfort across the NBA. For the moment, it is safe to say the policy has found far more critics than supporters. Do let us know your thoughts on this as the race for multiple accolades heats up.