Why LeBron James’ Most Amazing Streak Is at Risk
LeBron James has scored more than ten points in almost 1,300 consecutive games. But there is another even more notable streak, and now in danger.
LeBron James the first player to play a season 23, It took until midway through the third quarter on November 18 to secure its historic streak.
James, standing to the right of the court next to the Crypto.com Arena logo, passed the ball to Luka Doncic who was on the perimeter to his left. As soon as James released the ball, Austin Reaves he jumped from the paint to the three-point line to set a back screen on the Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen who marked the Lakers star.
The action allowed James to advance towards the basket, take advantage of the window in size on Keyonte George, receive a pass from Doncic and score a layup, thus maintaining history.
It was James’ sixth shot of the game and his third basket. More importantly, it raised his point total to 11 and ensured that his streak of double digit in notes, which he has kept for 1,294 matches over almost 18 years, it will continue.
Meanwhile, James’ debut in Utah helped him potentially maintain a much more prestigious, if less talked about, streak that better sums up his sustained greatness.
But it’s also a streak that’s dangerously close to ending, and not necessarily because of a decline in his play.
James has been named to a team All-NBA a record 21 consecutive times, receiving his first selection after his sophomore season.
There have been four United States presidents in that period. He dominates the category so much that he holds the record for NBA First Team nominations with 13, nearly tying his next closest competitor for total All-NBA selections: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, whowho are tied at 15.
From the first NBA Ideal Team For James, the award the league gives to commemorate the honor has changed from a plaque to a small glass trophy shaped like a basketball, and then to a larger glass trophy representing the achievement. Additionally, voting for each team, which previously consisted of two point guards, two forwards and one center, is now determined by the total number of votes the players receive, regardless of their position.
He’s been named to the All-NBA team for so long that the league, to combat waning fan interest in the regular season as players lose playing time to load management, changed the requirements to earn an All-NBA berth, or any other regular-season award, to needing to play in at least 65 games to be eligible.
This represents the biggest challenge for James to maintain this streak this season.
On Tuesday, against their local rivals, the LA Clippersthe Lakers are playing their seventeenth game of the season, which means they have exactly 65 games left.
James made his season debut after missing the first 14 games due to sciatica, a nerve problem that affected the lower back and the right side of the body.
This means that from now until the end of the Lakers’ regular season on April 12, James can only miss three games to remain All-NBA eligible.
And the Lakers have 11 more consecutive day series left on the schedule.
Klutch Sports’ Rich Paul, James’ longtime friend and agent, told AM850 that he hasn’t talked about James’ All-NBA chances this season.
However, if it were up to Paul, James would be ruled out. “Look, at 41 years old, I hope he’s not playing back-to-back games,” Paul said. “But at the same time, for him to make the NBA Dream Team and things like that… he can’t miss that many more games.”
While there have been occasional cases of teams ruling out consecutive games for a player due to his injury history (the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard and the Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid are recent examples), it is rarer for a team to do so simply because of age.
Last month, the Golden State Warriors They ruled out the possibility of playing consecutive games for the 39-year-old center Al Horford, and coach Steve Kerr matter-of-factly announced during the preseason that Horford simply wouldn’t play both games.
But it’s hard to imagine James agreeing to a similar deal. Last season, after completing a back-to-back playing 74 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Clippers midway through his 22nd year in the league, James spoke about his professional philosophy.
“I’ve always thought that to be a team leader and someone who can be trusted, availability is key,” James said. “Be available to your teammates. And I know it’s a difficult season. There are difficult seasons every year. And a lot of games affect us. You never know how the schedule will develop. But I try to be available as much as I can.”
It is a responsibility, according to sources familiar with his thinking, that James takes very seriously.
He came into last season with the declared intention of playing all 82 games, something he had only done once in his career, in 2017-18.
That goal lasted 23 games. As Los Angeles entered a slow phase in mid-December, James missed two consecutive games and had eight days off to recover from a sore foot.
During that time, for what Lakers coach JJ Redick described as “personal reasons,” James received an excused absence from the team.
Redick voted for the 2023-24 season All-NBA teams while working for AM850, placing James on the third team on his ballot. He recognizes its importance.
“At least historically, it’s probably a bigger designation than being an All-Star,” Redick said. “I think if you look at Hall of Fame tracking, generally, obviously, it’s changing; more and more players are coming in, but typically the more All-NBA awards you have, the better your chances are, compared to having eight All-Star appearances, for example.
“There are still a couple of players that are out, with multiple All-Star appearances, but they haven’t come in, so I think it’s important because of that.”
Redick said that in all of his preseason conversations with James, James’ desire to keep his All-NBA streak alive “never came up.”
Still, Redick has his own take on James potentially pursuing a 22nd consecutive All-NBA selection.
“I don’t think an All-NBA appearance this year is going to define his future,” Redick said.
What could enhance James’ resume, however, would be another championship, bringing his total to five.
Giving James a night off every once in a while, between now and mid-April, would help him take care of his legs for what the Lakers hope is a long playoff run.
At the same time, if James believes this could be his last season — something sources close to James have insisted he hasn’t decided yet — he might feel even more of a responsibility to play every game on what would then be a retirement tour.
Redick said James’ night-to-night availability would be determined by a group that includes James, Redick, James’ athletic trainer Mike Mancias and Dr. Leroy Sims, the Lakers’ director of player health and performance.
James playing in 65 of the Lakers’ final 68 games would be quite remarkable. Playing well enough in those games to still be considered one of the 15 best players in the NBA, at 41 years old, would be even more so.
