Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was ruled out against the San Antonio Spurs, making him ineligible for regular season awards after missing his 18th game. This marks the end of his historic 21-year streak appearing as a member on one of the three All-NBA teams.
Players must appear in at least 65 games in order to be eligible for All-NBA and other awards. James missed the first 14 games of the 2025-26 season due to a sciatic nerve injury and was initially held out of back-to-back sets in order to manage his workload. James managed to play 17 consecutive games before missing the Spurs game, an accomplishment in of itself given he’s in Year 23.
James played the night before in a competitive loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, so it was not surprising to see Los Angeles hold him out against San Antonio as it was the the second night of a back-to-back.
The league instituted the 65-game rule to dissuade stars from sitting out games, but it’s mostly backfired as injuries have been the main culprit for them missing games. LeBron would definitely be in the running for another All-NBA appearance if the rule didn’t exist as he remains one of the most productive players in the league.
Although James’ All-NBA streak is broken, he kept his All-Star Game streak alive after being named to his 22nd consecutive All-Star team. In the new All-Star Game format, James will play for the USA Stripes team, one of two United States squads. The World team is comprised of international players, including James’ Lakers teammate Luka Doncic.
It’s a shame that LeBron will have to miss out an All-NBA appearance, but he and the Lakers are only focused on getting themselves right for the rest of the season after the All-Star break. Los Angeles has a ways to go before they can consider themselves a contender and they’ll need James at his best if they hope to compete with the best teams in the league.
LeBron James: Thunder are championship team and Lakers are not
The Lakers had a golden opportunity to steal a game from the Thunder on Monday as they were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Los Angeles was down Luka Doncic, but they still had a shot to win in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, Oklahoma City wound up closing Los Angeles out and afterward James was brutally honest about the two teams. James called the Thunder a championship team but said that the Lakers aren’t one right now.
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