Lakers star LeBron James has achieved All-NBA honors for the past 21 seasons, but the league’s 65-game rule may bring that streak to an end.
James has been downgraded to out for Wednesday’s game at San Antonio due to left foot joint arthritis and right sciatica, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). L.A. is on the second night of a back-to-back, and James logged 33 minutes in Tuesday’s win at New Orleans.
Tonight will mark the 17th missed game of the season for the 41-year-old James, who has been experiencing physical issues in his 23rd NBA season. He didn’t make his debut until November 18 after sitting out the first 14 games while recovering from sciatica. This will be just the third time he hasn’t been in the lineup since returning, but he’s already in a position where he would have to play every game for the rest of the season to reach 65.
That’s extremely unlikely considering James’ age and his importance to the Lakers in the playoffs, and it doesn’t appear that he’s concerned about it. James acknowledged Tuesday night that back-to-backs will be an iffy proposition moving forward.
“Every back-to-back for the rest of the season is TBD,” he said (Twitter video link from McMenamin). “I am 41, I got the most minutes in NBA history … bank it right now.”
Coach JJ Redick said he hopes James will be able to suit up in both nights of back-to-backs at some point, McMenamin tweets, but he was feeling pain in his left foot following Tuesday’s contest.
James was a second-team All-NBA selection last season and finished sixth in the MVP voting as he appeared in 70 games and averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists in 34.9 minutes per night. His production has fallen to 21.7 PPG, 5.4 RGP and 6.8 APG so far this season.
He has experienced injury issues before, playing in just 45 games in 2020/21, 56 games in 2021/22 and 55 games in 2022/23. However, the NBA hadn’t instituted its 65-game minimum at the time, and his performance was strong enough to convince voters that he was worthy of All-NBA honors.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who had been listed as questionable with a left knee bone bruise, has been cleared to play, according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link).