Bulls' DeMar DeRozan: NBA Players Should Play 78 Games 'Minimum' to Be in MVP Race

Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan believes games played should be taken heavily under consideration when determining the NBA MVP.

Speaking to Joe Vardon, Law Murray and Bob Kravitz of The Athletic, DeRozan said an MVP would preferably play "all 82" games, but gave 78 as the "minimum" number of games an MVP should appear in:

Load management has been a hot-button issue in the NBA in recent years, as teams often rest their star players in at least one leg of back-to-back games or when they have limited days off during a long stretch.

Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton was among those to speak out against load management recently, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has downplayed the issue.

While speaking at an NBA All-Star Weekend press conference in Salt Lake City, Silver told reporters:

"The world that we used to have where it was just, 'Get out there and play through injuries,' for example, I don't think that's appropriate. Clearly, I mean, at the end of the day, these are human beings—many of you talk to and know well—who are often playing through enormous pain, who play through all kinds of aches and pains on a regular basis.

"The suggestion, I think, that these men, in the case in the NBA, somehow should just be out there more for its own sake, I don't buy into."

During a 14-year NBA career with the Toronto Raptors, San Antonio Spurs and Bulls, DeRozan has appeared in at least 78 games five times, including all 82 twice.

He isn't an MVP candidate this season, but he was named an All-Star for the second consecutive campaign, and he is averaging 25.4 points, 5.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds.

Even if DeRozan were in the MVP race, he wouldn't be a candidate by his own standards since he has missed six games this season.

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić is the front-runner to be named NBA MVP for a third consecutive year, but he has missed eight games, playing in 51 of Denver's 59 contests.

Jokić played in 74 out of a possible 82 games last season, and in 2020-21 when he won MVP for the first time, he played in all 72 of the Nuggets' games during a slightly shortened season.

It is something of a rarity for superstar players to miss four or fewer games in the NBA these days due to the desire to ensure they are healthy and fresh for the playoffs, but count DeRozan among those who think health and availability should play a big role in the MVP voting.