DeMar DeRozan: NBA MVP Should Have to Play at Least 78 Games
With conversations about the nature of load management reaching a fever pitch in the NBA this year, Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan has proposed a fairly radical solution to incentivize superstars to play more frequently in the regular season.
For a survey published in The Athletic after NBA All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City, DeRozan was asked to give a number of games in which players should be required to play to be eligible for the MVP award.
"All 82," he replied. "Minimum? 78."
DeRozan's radical solution would have disqualified a number of MVP contenders in the NBA's five most recent 82-game seasons.
These include every player to receive an MVP vote in 2022 (including DeRozan himself), first- and third-place finishers Giannis Antetokounmpo and Paul George in 2019, first- and third-place finishers James Harden and Anthony Davis in 2018, third-place finisher Kawhi Leonard in 2017, and second- and third-place finishers Leonard and LeBron James in 2016.
Only 25 players in the NBA played in 78 or more games last season, down from 102 in 2011 (a year before the 2012 lockout) and 98 in 2002 (when the league had one fewer team).
