LeBron James, a staple of the NBA All-Star Game since his second season in the league, will not be active for tonight's event.
Just hours before the new-look All-Star format is set to debut, James announced that he will be sitting the four-team tournament out due to ankle discomfort.
"Still dealing with ankle and foot discomfort so I will not be playing tonight, unfortunately," he told the media Sunday evening.
LeBron James says he will not play in tonight’s All-Star Game. pic.twitter.com/0rOfjcPxpz
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) February 16, 2025
"I was hoping it would feel a lot better this morning, but it was not where I wanted it to be," he added, per ESPN. James says he hopes to play in the Lakers' Wednesday home game against the Charlotte Hornets.
"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," James said.
James has made the All-Star Game in each season since 2004–05, his second year in the league. This will be the first All-Star Game that he's missed, snapping a streak of 20 consecutive appearances.
James was set to play for Team Shaq, alongside Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and now-former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, among others. He joked about the veteran team, while saying he looks forward to seeing the new All-Star format play out.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the format. This is the first year for it. I know we got a lot of great—they call us the O.G.'s, that's hilarious—we got a few guys with some grey hairs, so that makes sense. So that should be fun."
The new format pits teams drafted by the three analysts from TNT's Inside The NBA—Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith—along with the winning team from Friday's Rising Stars Challenge in a tournament, a first for NBA All-Star weekend.
The new-look All-Star Game tips off at 8 p.m. ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as LeBron James Announces That He Will Not Play in Sunday's All-Star Game.
