NBA Denies Anthony Edwards' Appeal Before Playoffs

Anthony Edwards just finished up another impressive regular-season campaign as a star guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging a career-high 28.8 points per game through 60 qualifying appearances.

Unfortunately for the four-time All Star, he’s not eligible to receive any NBA regular-season awards due to the league’s controversial 65-game rule.

On Thursday, the NBA announced its ruling on appeals from Luka Doncic, Cade Cunningham and Edwards.

The appeals from Doncic and Cunningham were accepted, but Edwards’ appeal was denied.

“Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who played in 60 qualified games, filed an extraordinary circumstances challenge under the CBA, seeking award eligibility before an independent arbitrator,” the league wrote in a statement. “Edwards’ challenge was denied and, as a result, he is not eligible for annual awards for the 2025-26 NBA regular season.”

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Cunningham appeared in 63 games, missing 12 contests due to a collapsed lung he suffered on March 17. While healthy, the All-Star point guard averaged 23.9 points and 9.9 assists per game for the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons.

Doncic, who missed the Los Angeles Lakers’ final five games of the regular season after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, missed another two games to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia.

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Edwards and the Timberwolves finished the regular season with a 49-33 record, enough for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. Minnesota will matchup against Nikola Jokic and the No. 3 seed Denver Nuggets in their first-round playoff series.

Game 1 of the Timberwolves-Nuggets series will tipoff at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 11:45 AM.