Lakers’ LeBron James reflects on ‘humbling’ NBA-record 21st All-Star appearance

Despite being at All-Star Weekend every year of his 22-season NBA career, Lakers star LeBron James hasn't taken the experience for granted.

When James appears in Sunday's All-Star competition at Chase Center in San Francisco, it'll mark his record-extending 21st All-Star appearance – and the 22nd consecutive year he's been involved with All-Star Weekend.

James, the 2003-04 Rookie of the Year, played in the Rookie Challenge in his first NBA season, meaning he's participated in All-Star weekend every year of his two-decade-plus career.

"Special thanks to my fans that voted me in their portion," James said earlier in the season. "The coaches, the players who had anything to do with me being a part of it. It's always special and very humbling and I don't take it for granted being an All-Star. It's something that, when I was a kid, I always watched the All-Star Game and had the opportunity to do and I always wanted to be on that floor.

"But it's always special. I'm pretty happy about it."

James, a four-time league MVP, enters the weekend averaging 24.3 points, nine assists and 7.7 rebounds per game in 48 games (34.5 minutes), leading a Lakers team that's No. 5 in the Western Conference with a 32-20 record.

When he plays Sunday, James will become the third player to appear in the All-Star Game after turning 40, joining Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did so at 40 and 41, and longtime Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, whose All-Star finale came when he was 40.

"This is not me throwing shade at anybody, but … in the history of the NBA, there's a lot of popular players that at the end or in certain seasons we've seen it because of the way the fan vote worked for a long time they get an All-Star nod and they were playing good," Lakers coach JJ Redick after James was named an All-Star in January. "But LeBron is still playing at an elite level. He's very deserving of this All-Star nomination.

"Just another accolade and another accomplishment for him to add to the list of what seems like thousands."

But the All-Star Game that James is about to compete in will look different than the one he grew up watching and was a part of for the previous 20 years.

The NBA is debuting a new format for Sunday's All-Star Game, featuring a mini-tournament with four teams and three games. Two teams will meet in one semifinal (Game 1), and the other two teams will meet in the other semifinal (Game 2). The winning teams from Game 1 and Game 2 will advance to face each other in the championship (Game 3). Every game is being played to 40 points.

Each team will have eight players, with the 24 All-Stars being divided evenly into three teams that were drafted by TNT's "Inside the NBA" commentators and honorary team general managers Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith on Feb. 6:

Team Shaq's OGs: James (Lakers), Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors), Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), Damian Lillard (Milwaukee Bucks), James Harden (Clippers) and Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics).

Team Kenny's Young Stars: Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder), Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers), Evan Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers), Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons) and Tyler Herro (Miami Heat).

Team Chuck's Global Stars: Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs), Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers), Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets), Karl-Anthony Towns (New York Knicks), Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks).

The fourth team, the winning team of Friday night's Rising Stars that'll be led by TNT analyst and WNBA legend Candace Parker, is: Dalton Knecht (Lakers), Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs), Jaylen Wells (Memphis Grizzlies), Keyonte George (Utah Jazz), Zach Edey (Memphis Grizzlies), Trayce Jackson-Davis (Golden State Warriors) and Ryan Dunn (Phoenix Suns). Houston Rockets wing Amen Thompson was added to the team after Rising Stars.

Kenny's Young Stars will play Chuck's Global Stars in the semifinals while Shaq's OGs will play the Rising Stars teams, meaning Lakers teammates James and Knecht will be on opposite teams in the semifinals.

"I might play against Bron right? Is that true? So I get to go against one of my teammates," Knecht said Friday night. "It'll be a lot of fun to just go out there and try to make a statement."

James will again be teammates with Curry and Durant, at least for one night, after the trio led Team USA to the gold medal in the Paris Olympics last summer.

"We'll see when we get there," James said in Sacramento in December about the new All-Star format. "It's different. Obviously, any time you make some type of change it's gonna be some buck back. I don't know. I mean, I have my ideas of what could possibly work.

He added: "You got to do something. Obviously the last couple of years have not been a great All-Star Game that Sunday night. But I mean, listen, it's a bigger conversation. It's not just the All-Star Game. It's our game in general."

When asked what he meant, James responded: "There's a lot of [expletive] 3s being shot. So it's a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game."

James didn't provide any further comments on what he meant, saying "Sacramento, I love you guys, but you can't get this conversation … it's just a bigger conversation."

Maybe he'll elaborate further this weekend.

Originally Published: February 15, 2025 at 8:35 AM PST