Luka Dončić and Cade Cunningham are eligible for NBA awards after successful appeals of 65-game rule

The Los Angeles Lakers ' Luka Dončić and Detroit Pistons ' Cade Cunningham will be eligible for awards such as MVP and All-NBA this season despite falling short of the 65-game minimum, the league and the National Basketball Players Association said Thursday.

Dončić played in 64 games and Cunningham played in 63. But the league and the union both agreed that each should be on the ballot based on the “extraordinary circumstances provision” in the collective bargaining agreement.

Dončić — who is one of the favorites to contend for MVP honors after winning the league's scoring title — missed two games to attend the birth of his daughter in Slovenia. Cunningham missed 12 games as a result of a collapsed lung that was diagnosed on March 17.

“The NBA and NBPA agreed that, taking into account the totality of the circumstances for Cunningham and Dončić, each player qualified for awards,” the league and the union said in a statement.

Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, who played in 60 qualified games, also tried to get on the awards ballot through the extraordinary circumstances challenge — but sought his approval before an independent arbitrator. His challenge was denied.

The statuses of Dončić and Cunningham were a major topic toward the end of the season. San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama — an MVP candidate and the likely defensive player of the year — got to the 65-game mark in the Spurs' next-to-last game, and 's three-time MVP became qualified for this year's awards on the final day of the regular season. Jokic has been first or second in MVP balloting in each of the last five seasons and won the league's rebounding and assist titles this season.