LeBron James will not play on Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs. That matters if you care about one of the Los Angeles Lakers star’s most remarkable feats.
The Lakers officially ruled James out of Tuesday’s game with the Spurs, the second night of a back-to-back, due to left foot arthritis. Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart were all ruled out too.
With James now out due to the injury, he will officially hit 18 games missed on the season, making it impossible for him to reach the 65 appearances he needs to be awards eligible due to the current collective bargaining agreement. That means for the first time since 2004, the All-NBA teams will not include James.
James missed the first 14 games of the season due to sciatica, making 65 games a longshot for the 41-year-old. It was pretty much an inevitability with him skipping legs of back-to-backs, and he was open about how difficult it was to play both legs at his age.
The development ends an unprecedented 21-year All-NBA streak for James. To get a sense of how abnormal that is, keep in mind that Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are tied for second all-time in All-NBA selections with 15 each. Not a streak, total.
James is also the all-time leader in first-team selections with 13, two ahead of Bryant and Karl Malone.
For more perspective on how far James’ streak goes back, here are the All-NBA teams from the 2003-04 season, his first year in the NBA. That was the only time in James’ career he didn’t make an All-NBA team, though he did win Rookie of the Year that year.
Note Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant still being on the same team.
First Team
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F – Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves
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F – Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
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C – Shaquille O’Neal, Los Angeles Lakers
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G – Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
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G – Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets
Second Team
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F – Peja Stojaković, Sacramento Kings
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F – Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana Pacers
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C – Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons
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G – Tracy McGrady, Orlando Magic
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G – Sam Cassell, Minnesota Timberwolves
Third Team
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F – Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers
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F – Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
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C – Yao Ming, Houston Rockets
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G – Michael Redd, Milwaukee Bucks
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G – Baron Davis, New Orleans Hornets
The streak means that James has not only maintained a high level of play for more than two decades, but he’s also stayed healthy enough to play something resembling a full season. He did, however, have some close calls.
James failed to reach 65 games in four of the full seasons in that streak. There was some mild controversy when he made it in after playing 55 games in 2018-19 thanks to his exceptional rate stats, and he was the last one on the third-team boat in 2022-23. Whether anyone got snubbed in that voting due to James’ name recognition is up to you.
This is the third unprecedented streak to end for James this season. On Dec. 4, he posted eight points in a win against the Toronto Raptors, ending a 19-year-old, 1,297-game streak of scoring at least 10 points. He also missed out on All-Star starting honors, ending an unmatched 21-year streak of being in the star-studded starting five. Him playing a 23rd season alone remains unmatched in NBA history.
You can take all of that for what you will in the NBA GOAT arguments. It’s just hard to think of a single athlete in all of sports who has performed like this from ages 19 to 41.
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