Mavs' Kyrie Irving Not Eligible for End-of-Season NBA Awards; Has Missed 18 Games

An injury-plagued start to the season has already knocked Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving out of contention for any 2023-24 NBA awards.

After sitting out Friday's win over the Atlanta Hawks, Irving won't be able to meet the minimum threshold of 65 games played to be eligible for regular-season awards consideration.

One of the biggest additions to the new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association was a games-played requirement to be eligible for regular-season awards.

Players must appear in a minimum of 65 games to be considered for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and All-NBA honors.

Irving dealt with a foot injury early in the season that kept him out for two games. He aggravated the issue when teammate Dwight Powell inadvertently stepped on his foot in a Dec. 8 game against the Portland Trail Blazers. That injury kept him out for 12 straight games.

A sprained right thumb has kept Irving out for the past two games.

Being ineligible for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year aren't big deals for Irving. Luka Dončić is the Mavs player with the best shot an MVP and Irving's defense is not what anyone would classify as worthy of being in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation.

All-NBA honors could have been a serious consideration for Irving if he were eligible. The eight-time All-Star is averaging 25.2 points on 41.1 percent three-point shooting, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game.

It would have been a long shot anyway, even with the new positionless format for All-NBA teams, because the backcourt players in the Western Conference alone could fill out one of the two rosters.

Irving is competing against Dončić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry and Anthony Edwards. That doesn't even factor in the Eastern Conference guards like Tyrese Haliburton, Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Maxey.