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dave mcmenamin
it took everything Way to the middle of the third quarter on November 18 Lebron James – already the first player to suit up for his 23rd season – ensuring he maintains another historic streak.
James, standing on the right side of the court near the Crypto.com Arena logo, passes the ball luka doncicWhich was situated on the periphery on his left side. Once James released the ball, Austin Reeves Jumped from paint to 3-point line to set back screen utah jazz Ahead lauri markkanenWho was guarding the Lakers star.
This action freed James to move forward towards the basket so he could make a much shorter basket keyonte georgeReceive a pass back from Doncic and score a layup, making history as he did.
It was James’ sixth shot of the game, and his third.
More importantly, it increased his point total to 11 and assured his double-digit scoring streak – which he has maintained for 1,294 games over nearly 18 years – will continue.
Meanwhile, the start of James’ season at Utah helped him maintain a potentially far more prestigious — albeit less discussed — streak that better expresses his continued greatness.
But it’s also one that’s inconclusively close to ending, and it’s not necessarily due to any decline in James’ play.
James has been named to the All-NBA Team 21 consecutive times, receiving his first selection after his sophomore season.
There have been four American presidents in that time. He is so dominant in this category that he even holds the record for All-NBA First Team nods with 13, almost matching his next closest competition. Total All-NBA selections Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, who is tied for 15th.
Since James’ first All-NBA team, the award sent by the league to commemorate the honor has changed from a plaque, a small, crystal basketball-shaped trophy, to a larger, crystal basketball token of achievement. Additionally, the ballot for each team, which previously consisted of two guards, two forwards and one center, is now determined by the total number of votes received by players regardless of position.
He has been named to the All-NBA team for so long that the league, to combat declining fan interest in the regular season due to players missing time due to load management, changed the requirements to earn an All-NBA spot, or any other regular-season award, by requiring him to play at least 65 games to be eligible.
Maintaining this momentum is the biggest challenge for James this season.
On Tuesday, against their crosstown rivals LA ClippersThe Lakers are playing their 17th game of the season, which means they have exactly 65 games remaining.
James began his season after missing the first 14 games due to sciatica, a nerve problem that affected his lower back and the right side of his body.
This means: From now until the Lakers’ regular season finale on April 12, James can only miss three games to remain eligible for All-NBA.
And the Lakers have 11 There are more back-to-backs remaining on the schedule.
James’s longtime friend and agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, told ESPN that he has not discussed James’ All-NBA prospects for this season.
However, if it were up to Paul, James would have taken himself out of the running.
“Look, at 41, I expect he’s not playing consistently,” Paul said. “But at the same time, to make the All-NBA team and things like that… he can’t miss that many games.”
Although there have been occasional cases where a team has refused to give a player a back-to-back because of his injury history – the Clippers and kawhi leonard and this philadelphia 76ers And joel embiid These are recent examples – it is rare for a team to do this due to age.
last month, Golden State Warriors Back-to-backs taken off the table for the 39-year-old center al horfordCoach Steve Kerr announced matter-of-factly during the preseason that Horford would not play both stints.
But it’s hard to imagine that James would agree to a similar arrangement. Last season, after completing back-to-backs by playing 74 minutes against minnesota timberwolves And the Clippers, midway through his 22nd year in the league, James talked about his professional philosophy.
“I’ve always thought that your availability is very important to being a leader and someone who can be relied upon on a team,” James said. “Being available to my teammates. And I know it’s a tough season. There are tough seasons every year. And a lot of games affect us. You never know how the schedule is going to shake out. But I try to be available as much as possible.”
It’s a responsibility James takes seriously, sources with knowledge of his thinking told ESPN.
He came into last season with the stated intention of playing all 82 games – something he had only done once in his career in 2017–18.
That goal lasted 23 games. As L.A. entered the soft portion of the schedule in mid-December, James missed two consecutive games and received eight days of rest to recover from foot pain.
During that time, James was excused from the team for what Lakers coach JJ Redick called “personal reasons”.
Redick voted for All-NBA teams in 2023–24 when he worked for ESPN, and placed James on the third team on his ballot. He recognizes their importance.
“I mean, at least historically, it’s probably a higher designation than being an All-Star,” Redick said. “I think if you look at Hall of Fame tracking, in general, obviously it’s changing, more and more people are getting in now, but generally the more All-NBA awards you have, the higher your chances, versus eight All-Star appearances. [for example],
“There are still some guys that haven’t made that many All-Star appearances, so I think it’s important for that.”
Redick said in all of his offseason conversations with James, James’ desire to keep his All-NBA streak alive “never came up.”
Still, Redick has his own opinion about James’ potential pursuit of a 22nd consecutive All-NBA selection.
“I don’t think an All-NBA appearance this year is going to make or break his resume,” Redick said.
However, the only addition that could add to James’ resume would be another championship, bringing his total to five.
Between now and mid-April, giving James a night off here and there will help the Lakers save their legs for hopes of a deep playoff run.
Plus, if James believes this could be his last season – something that sources close to James have insisted he is still undecided about – then he may feel even more responsibility for every game that retirement tour will take.
Redick said James’ night-night availability will be determined by a group that will include James, Redick, James’ longtime athletic trainer Mike Mancias and Lakers director of player performance and health Dr. LeRoy Sims.
It would be remarkable for James to play in 65 of the Lakers’ final 68 games.
Playing well enough in those games to be considered one of the NBA’s 15 best players at age 41 would be even more.
