By all accounts, Donte DiVincenzo should be one of the favorites to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award for the 2023-24 season.
In his first season in New York, the sharpshooting guard upped his production from 9.4 to 15.5 points, drained a franchise-high 283 threes and became a vital starter for a second-seeded Knicks squad many are picking to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Villanova product had such an impressive season that his 283 threes ranked No. 3 in the league behind only Stephen Curry (357) and Luka Doncic (284).
Unfortunately, DiVincenzo can’t be rewarded for his improved season.
According to ESPN’s Chris Herring, DiVincenzo is ineligible for the award due to a caveat in the NBA’s new 65-game rule for players to qualify for season honors.
Although DiVincenzo crossed the threshold of 65 games, he played over 20 minutes in only 62 of those appearances. The league mandates that players log at least 20 minutes from the 65 games that count toward the award.
Technically, DiVincenzo averaged 29.1 minutes per game — including a whopping 52 minutes in Sunday’s regular-season finale against Chicago — but did not play at least 20 minutes in 65 games.
“DiVincenzo had 66 games in which he logged 19.5 minutes or more — including four appearances that fell less than 30 seconds short of the 20-minute total — but the NBA doesn’t round up official minute totals,” Herring explained in his report.
The 65-game rule, put into place as part of the NBA’s new CBA, has been widely criticized by fans and analysts alike. It’s unknown if the NBA will make any amendments to the rule going into the 2024-25 season. During February’s All-Star break, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league was taking a wait-and-see approach.
“I’m not ready to say it’s not working,” Silver said, via IndyStar. “Games are up. Injuries are down. Whether that’s meaningful, I don’t know. We’ll look at it at the end of the season.”