The NBA designed the 65-game rule to reward players like Anthony Edwards. Throughout his career, he has played hard, played often, and played through it when others didn’t. So, when the NBA denied his award eligibility on Thursday without a reason, it was baffling to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski reported that Chris Finch was pointed in his frustration. “It sure would be nice to hear an explanation as to why Anthony was denied his 65 games, particularly when you look at the history of Anthony, who plays all the time and has played all the time,” the HC said. “I’m not sure why we have a rule if we have an appeals process that is overturned in two-thirds of the cases that were held before it.”

The NBA and NBPA announced that Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham would be eligible for end-of-season awards under the collective bargaining agreement’s “extraordinary circumstances” provision, despite both falling short of the 65-game minimum. Doncic played in 64 games, having missed two in December to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia, while Cunningham played in 63 after he suffered a collapsed lung in mid-March. Edwards, who also filed a challenge after playing in 61 games, had his case advanced to an independent arbitrator, who denied it.

A career-best season for Anthony Edwards, with nothing to show for it at Awards Time

The former No. 1 pick’s season sharpens the sting of the ruling. He averaged a career-best 28.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game across 61 regular-season contests, numbers that would have normally made him a legitimate All-NBA candidate. Doctors diagnosed his knee injury, which derailed his availability, as patellofemoral pain syndrome, the same “runner’s knee” condition that kept Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors sidelined for two months.

The CBA’s extraordinary circumstances provision does not define an “extraordinary” circumstance, leaving the determination to the arbitrator’s discretion. That ambiguity was precisely what Finch pushed back on. His complaint wasn’t really with Doncic or Cunningham, as he acknowledged both situations were legitimate. It was against a process that produced three different outcomes without explaining why one case differed from the other two.

With the decisions now complete, the NBA sent award ballots out to media voters on Thursday. People expect the results to roll out in the coming weeks as the playoffs get underway. Ant Man, meanwhile, is healthy and ready for Minnesota’s first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, the player the Timberwolves built around, now shut out of the awards conversation for a season that, by any measure, warranted a seat at the table.