League rules
How to Read the NBA Injury Report — Deadlines, Statuses, Rest Rules and 65 Games
Unlike MLB or the NFL, the NBA has no official injured list that locks a player out for a fixed minimum period. Instead, the injury report that every team files before each game is the main official source for who will and will not play. This guide explains the filing rules and status categories, along with two related policies every fan should know: the player participation (rest) policy and the 65-game threshold for awards.
Filing deadlines
According to the NBA’s official injury report page, teams must list every player whose participation in a game may be affected for any reason, give that player a status, and identify the specific reason. Reasons can be an injury, an illness or another medical condition — or something else, including rest.
| Situation | Deadline (local time) |
|---|---|
| Regular game | 5 p.m. the day before the game |
| Second game of a back-to-back | 1 p.m. on game day |
A back-to-back means games on consecutive nights. Because the team cannot know how players came through the first game until it is over, the deadline for the second night moves to game day.
Game-day updates: a 2025-26 change
In December 2025, citing transparency about player availability, the league added a required game-day report. For every game except the second night of a back-to-back, teams must resubmit their report during a set window on game day:
- Most games: between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time
- Games tipping off at 5 p.m. or earlier: between 8 and 10 a.m. local time
The official report keeps updating throughout the day after that. It is common for a status you saw the night before to change by tip-off. Questionable players in particular are often decided after pregame warmups, so it is worth checking again close to the start.
What the statuses mean
The main statuses on an NBA injury report are:
- Out: will not play.
- Doubtful: unlikely to play.
- Questionable: undecided.
- Probable: expected to play.
Some team notes have described these as roughly 75% (Probable), 50% (Questionable) and 25% (Doubtful). The league does not define official percentages, so use those figures only as a loose guide. The reason column matters too: the report covers rest and personal matters as well as injuries and illness, and knowing why a player is listed helps you understand how long the absence might last.
The rest policy and back-to-backs
For years, “load management” — sitting healthy stars to manage their workload — drew criticism. Starting with the 2023-24 season the league introduced a Player Participation Policy. Its main points:
- Who counts as a star: a player named an All-Star or to an All-NBA team in any of the previous three seasons.
- One star at a time: a team should not have more than one star sit out the same game, unless both are genuinely injured.
- National TV and in-season tournament games: stars must be available for nationally televised games and in-season tournament (NBA Cup) games.
- Home and road balance: one-game absences should be spread between home and road games, with home absences preferred.
- Be visible: healthy players who are resting must be present at the game and visible to fans.
- No long shutdowns: teams may not effectively shut down a healthy star for a long stretch.
There is a back-to-back carve-out. A star who is 35 or older on opening night, has 34,000 regular-season minutes, or has played 1,000 combined regular-season and playoff games can, with league approval sought in advance, sit one end of a back-to-back. Fines are $100,000 for a first violation, $250,000 for a second, and from the third on, $1 million more than the previous fine. The league can also investigate a player’s status, including through an independent medical review.
The 65-game threshold for awards
Introduced at the same time, the 65-game rule makes players eligible for major honors — MVP, All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year, All-Defensive and Most Improved Player — only if they appear in at least 65 of the 82 regular-season games. Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie are not covered.
To count, a game generally requires at least 20 minutes played, although up to two games of 15 to 19 minutes can also count. There is an exception for a player who reaches 62 games, then suffers a season-ending injury, provided he had appeared in at least 85% of his team’s games before the injury.
Because of this rule, late-season injury news can directly affect award races. The players’ union has criticized the threshold as too rigid, but as of spring 2026 the league said it intended to keep it.
On Daily IL
Daily IL shows NBA report statuses as OUT, DOUBTFUL, QUESTIONABLE and PROBABLE. A player confirmed out long term, such as for the season, appears as IL; a player serving a league suspension appears as SUSPENDED; and a player back from injury appears as RETURNED. NBA reports change often on game day, so please check the update time shown on each Daily IL entry. The exact definitions are on our status guide.
Sources
- NBA Injury Report: 2025-26 Season — NBA Official
- Example official injury report, Dec. 22, 2025, 8:45 a.m. — NBA
- How the NBA’s new rules on resting stars will work — ESPN
- NBA load management: Board approves rules that fine teams if ‘star players’ sit certain games — CBS Sports
- Luka Doncic’s injury could mean he’s out of the NBA award race — News4JAX (AP)
- Injury Report: Kings vs Lakers — NBA.com
Rules can change with each season and collective bargaining agreement, so check each league’s official announcements for the latest details.