NBA injury report: At least $2.5 billion in combined salary sits out Sunday

If you were hoping for an incredible, tense finale to the NBA regular season on Sunday, I have some bad news for you.

Almost no relevant NBA players, at least those who will factor into the play-in tournament and playoffs over the next two months, are playing on Sunday. (Or, if they're on a team trying to tank for the annual NBA Draft Lottery.) Indeed, the final leaguewide injury report is extensive, featuring MVP-caliber superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama, and Luka Dončić, among others. Of those four, only Jokić even seems somewhat likely to play as he has to make one meaningful appearance to satisfy the league's 65-game rule for award eligibility.

When it comes to the rest of the league, if you see someone who is even listed as "questionable" but not out, the safest assumption is that they will probably not play. As calculated by The Associated Press's Tim Reynolds, this means at least $2.5 billion in combined NBA player salaries is sitting out on Sunday at a minimum. That is not factoring in the questionable players, who will be closer to game-time decisions. Phew, wow:

To be very clear, this is what happens when:

1. You have a regular season so demanding, arduous, and extended that contending teams decide to punt the final few days JUST so they can finally get some much-needed rest before the real games start.
2. You have a player acquisition system so broken that terrible teams with no hope for the future are all but forced to try to maximize their odds in the lottery by throwing games, because this strategy is realistically the only way they could hope to add a potential difference-making franchise player.

I, for one, don't personally care that likely almost no one notable is playing in the NBA's regular-season finale. I'm ready for the playoffs. But if I know anything about NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his subordinates' tendency to react to these situations (correction: overreact), you can bet your bottom dollar these are injury-report optics they are privately frustrated by. Boy, I can't wait for another inevitable new meaningless tournament to ensure no one ever sits out another game.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: NBA injury report: Many notable stars sit out Sunday's season finale