‘Unintended consequences:’ NBA exec Joe Dumars discusses the 65-game

The last time the NBA used the phrase “unintended consequences,” it applied to the salary cap hike of 2016 that temporarily altered competitive balance by allowing the Warriors to sign Kevin Durant in free agency.

Now the phrase is back, albeit in a different way, with a few players coming close to missing out on awards and honors because they won’t meet the threshold of 65 games played.

Namely reigning MVP Joel Embiid and the league’s biggest individual surprise, Tyrese Haliburton.

“You’re always gonna have unintended consequences, that’s the first thing” NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday afternoon. “The second thing, you kind of knew that the first couple of guys that we’re going to get close to that mark, it will become an issue. So it probably was going to become a talking point at some point.

“It could’ve been a month from now. The number is what the number is. I’m not surprised [though].”

Embiid has missed games because of myriad knee issues this season and throughout his career, winning MVP last season despite playing 66 games, the fewest for a winner in an 82-game season since the media began voting in 1980.

Embiid has played 34 of Philadelphia’s 46 games to date.

Haliburton has money on the line after missing 11 games with a hamstring injury. The game in which he injured himself doesn’t count toward the 65-game total because he didn’t play 20 minutes in it.

Haliburton called the rule “stupid,” but Dumars offers an important reminder: It was collectively bargained in this summer’s CBA.

“Lest we forget, this was collectively bargained, players’ association, signed off by the owners, signed off by the competition committee,” Dumars said. “And we’ve updated the numbers. We throw a lot of numbers…