Luka Doncic, Cade Cunningham Receive Big News Before 2026 NBA Playoffs
The Los Angeles Lakers enter their first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets without Luka Doncic, who is out indefinitely with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain suffered on April 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
While some sources hope he might return for Games 3, 4, or 5, the team officially says they don't expect him back during the first round. Amid the injury uncertainty, the NBA and NBPA issued a major ruling on Thursday that significantly impacts the awards race.
The NBA and NBPA have ruled in favor of Doncic and Detroit Pistons Cade Cunningham on their Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge for the 65-game award rule, making both eligible for all 2025-26 season honors, such as MVP and All-NBA teams, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
Doncic won the "Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge" because two of his missed games came when he flew to Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter in early December. Without his mandatory one-game suspension for accumulating 16 technical fouls, Doncic would have already cleared the 65-game threshold entirely.
Doncic missed 2 games in December due to the birth of his child abroad and Cunningham had a collapsed lung. Minnesota's Anthony Edwards filed a challenge as well and his case was advanced to an independent arbitrator, but was denied and is not eligible for awards, sources said. https://t.co/BfkiQH2f2e
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 16, 2026
Cunningham also had a strong case for an award exception. On March 17, he suffered a collapsed lung just five minutes into his 61st game of the season. His agent, Jeff Schwartz, called the league's 65-game minimum "arbitrary" and "rigid."
Schwartz argued that the league should reward excellence rather than enforce strict quotas that ignore serious medical injuries. Cunningham ultimately returned for the final three games of the regular season, finishing with 64 total appearances.
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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 9:29 AM.