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Dave McMenamin
SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James sat out the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night — his first time missing the game in his career — because of lingering discomfort in his left foot and ankle.
James, 40, sat out the Lakers’ win over the Indiana Pacers last weekend because of the same injury.
“I was hoping it would feel a lot better this morning, but it was not where I wanted it to be,” James said of his ankle.
The 22-year veteran skipped Saturday’s ceremonial practice and media availability, keeping the same routine he kept for All-Star Weekend the past two seasons, with the NBA granting him the reprieve after two decades of service.
James added that he “hoped” he would be available Wednesday in the Lakers’ first game after the All-Star break against the Charlotte Hornets.
The game was rescheduled to this week after the Lakers-Hornets game on Jan. 9 was postponed because of the Los Angeles wildfires. The rest of the league will not resume play until Thursday.
The Lakers (32-20) are No. 5 in the Western Conference after winning 12 of 15 games heading into the break.
“With 30 games left and us trying to make a playoff push in the wild, wild West, I felt like it was very important for me to kind of take care of myself and understand what’s coming on [down the stretch],” James said.
It was the first All-Star Game that James has sat out in his career after being selected a starter for a record 21st straight year in 2025.
James announced his decision about two hours before tipoff Sunday, meaning there was no injury replacement named in his place. James’ All-Star team, Team Shaq’s OGs, won the title over Team Chuck.
James is averaging 24.3 points on 51.6% shooting (39.5% from 3), with 9.0 assists and 7.7 rebounds this season, appearing in 48 of L.A.’s 52 games.
Two of those games featured his new teammate, Luka Doncic. James was asked if playing with the 25-year-old Doncic has affected how long he planned to continue to play before retiring.
“I have not given it that type of thought,” James said. “Just the excitement of being able to add a caliber player like that, a generational talent like that to our franchise, it’s something that’s given me energy. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. … I think we could be really good going down the stretch. But we’ll see what happens.”
James touched on several other topics during his 15-minute news conference:
• After Ja Morant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zach LaVine took to social media to express their interest in joining next year’s dunk contest after Mac McClung won the event for the third straight time Saturday, James was asked if he regretted never participating in it.
“No, there’s no part of me that has regrets about not doing it,” James said. “Obviously, I had a couple moments where I wanted to do it, and it just never worked out that way.”
He added it would be “pretty cool” to see established stars dunk in the contest.
“If those guys do do it, those are superstars in our league, and obviously we know the athleticism [they possess],” James said.
• When asked about the current state of the NBA, after he lamented too many 3-pointers being taken across the league earlier this season, James endorsed the NBA product, pointing to its international appeal as a major draw.
“We love our game. The game of basketball is beautiful,” James said. “[The NBA is] better from when I entered the league in 2003, and hopefully it continues to be even better when I’m done playing, as well.”
• James said he was “looking forward to seeing” the All-Star Game’s revamped format, which featured three teams of eight NBA All-Stars and one team of eight first- and second-year Rising Stars players competing in a round-robin tournament.
James’ team, coached by Shaquille O’Neal and featuring vets such as James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the roster, played the Rising Stars group, including rookies Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs and Dalton Knecht of the Lakers.
“I know we’ve got a lot of great — calling us the OGs, that’s hilarious,” James said. “I saw the quote the other day with DK [Knecht] say he was going to play against me. So I guess I’ll see him in practice and we can go at it then.”