Anthony Edwards Ineligible for NBA End-of-Season Awards

Ineligibility confirmed

Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards will not qualify for NBA end-of-season awards because he won’t meet the league’s minimum of 65 games played. The team listed him out for the game against the Detroit Pistons with a right knee issue and an illness, and that absence dropped his official eligible appearances to 58. With only six regular-season games left, it’s now impossible for him to reach the required total.

Season recap and what it means

Edwards had just returned from a two-week layoff and posted 17 points in 23 minutes in a win over Dallas before missing the Detroit game. He’d already been sidelined for six contests earlier in the season due to knee trouble, and head coach Chris Finch said illness was the reason he sat out after the 113–108 loss.

Despite the missed games, Edwards has enjoyed a huge scoring year, averaging a career-best 29.3 points per game. He’s also a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA pick who finished seventh in MVP voting in each of the last two seasons. Still, this year he won’t reach the 70-plus games mark he managed in each of his first five NBA campaigns, and that means no award eligibility regardless of his stats.

The Timberwolves will now have to manage the final stretch without the possibility of Edwards earning award recognition, while focusing on staying healthy and ready for the postseason push.