A “stupid rule” is what Tyrese Haliburton calls the NBA’s new 65-game level for awards.

A “stupid rule” is what Tyrese Haliburton calls the NBA’s new 65-game level for awards.

Before he hurt his hamstring in 13 minutes toward the Celtics on January 8, Tyrese Haliburton was out of three games this season.

He then missed 10 of the Pacers’ next 11 games because of the injury. His next game is Tuesday night against the same Celtics.

Haliburton had a great season and was chosen as an All-Star starter. He is also on track for becoming an All-NBA player, but the league’s new Player Involvement Policy says that a player must play a minimum of twenty minutes in 65 games to be eligible for any playoffs award.

Here’s where the $41 million figure comes in: Haliburton signed a max extension of his contract for the Pacers in the offseason.

It was a five-year, $204.5 million deal based on the NBA’s latest salary cap of $141 million, which was sent to teams on Tuesday.

That’s 25% of the maximum salary. He can make a maximum of thirty percent of the cap, or $41 million more over the life of the contract, if Haliburton makes the All-NBA team, though. This is because of the Rose rule.

Haliburton can only miss three games for the remainder of the season. If he does, he won’t be able to play in All-NBA. This is bad for Embiid, but since his contract is set, he doesn’t lose any money. Haliburton, on the other hand, does.

A lot of people are talking about this because of Joel Embiid. Many voters have named him MVP so far this season, but he has missed 12 games currently and can only miss five more during the season or he won’t make the MVP/All-NBA cutoff.

Tyrese Haliburton, a point guard for the Indiana Pacers, could be the most exciting new player in the professional basketball league this season. He is also showing how the NBA’s new loading management rules can go wrong right now.

One of the NBA’s rising stars could lose over forty million dollars because he hurt himself in January and missed a few weeks.

Because of rules meant to stop players like Kyrie Irving from missing half of a back-to-back, he was then ruled ineligible.

Haliburton has missed 13 games and played less than 20 minutes in another. He can only miss a maximum of three and must play no less than twenty minutes in every other game to be considered for All-NBA. If he gets hurt and has to miss even one week, it’s likely the end of his award campaign.

He has a strong case for having played only 60 games since he is the NBA leader in assists every game and scores 20 points per game, but the NBA’s rules have made it impossible for him to do so.

Haliburton said after practice Monday, “I think it’s a stupid rule, and so do a lot of other guys in the league. But this is what the owners of the league want, so as players, we have to do our job as well as play in 65 games if we can.”

“That’s what I need to do to play in those games: take care of my body. I think other players in the league are going through the same thing.” As long as the proprietors are pleased.

It’s not a coincidence that the 65-game rule and the In-Season Tournament showed up all of a sudden. Commissioner Adam Silver as well as the NBA were working on a new broadcasting deal and needed to keep the regular season’s value high.

The NBA has an 82-game ordinary season from October to April. These games are sold to fill up cable TV hours, but the games are less valuable if important players aren’t playing.

The league wanted to limit “load management,” even though many of the games that didn’t happen were because teams wanted to keep their star players healthy and rested until the playoffs, which is if fans (and owners) care about how each night’s games turn out.

The NBA’s new rule about player participation doesn’t go over well with Tyrese Haliburton. At this point, Haliburton is also feeling the effects of that policy, mostly in his bank account.

Haliburton talked about the NBA’s new rule that requires a certain number of games played to be eligible for end-of-season prizes and All-NBA honors after practice on Monday. He was planning to return from a five-game absence.

Already, we saw how that rule could be used for MVP. Joel Embiid, who is leading the league in scoring and was a heavy favorite to win again, can only miss five more games this season before he is no longer eligible.