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Dave McMenamin
IT TOOK ALL the way until midway through the third quarter on Nov. 18 for LeBron James — already the first player ever to suit up for a 23rd season — to make sure he kept another historic streak intact.
James, standing on the right side of the court by the Crypto.com Arena logo, passed the ball to Luka Doncic, who was positioned on the perimeter to his left. Once James released the ball, Austin Reaves sprung up from the paint to the 3-point line to set a back screen on Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, who was guarding the Lakers star.
The action freed James to advance toward the basket to post up the much smaller Keyonte George, receive a pass back from Doncic and score a layup, maintaining history as he did it.
It was James’ sixth shot of the game, and his third make.
More importantly, it lifted his point total to 11 and assured his double-digit scoring streak — which he has tended to for 1,294 games spanning nearly 18 years — would continue.
Meanwhile, James’ season debut in Utah helped him to potentially maintain a far more prestigious — albeit less talked about — streak, one that better encapsulates his sustained greatness.
But it’s also one that is precariously close to ending, and not necessarily because of any drop-off in James’ play.
James has been named to an All-NBA team a record 21 straight times, receiving his first selection after his second season.
There have been four U.S. presidents in that time. He dominates the category so much that he also holds the record for All-NBA First Team nods with 13, which nearly matches his next closest competition for total All-NBA selections in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, who are tied at 15.
Since James’ first All-NBA team, the award the league sends out to commemorate the honor has changed from a plaque to a small, crystal basketball-shaped trophy, to a bigger, crystal basketball token of achievement. Additionally, the ballot for each team, which used to be comprised of two guards, two forwards and a center, is now determined by the total number of votes players receive, regardless of position.
He has been named to the All-NBA team for so long that the league, to combat the dwindling fan interest in the regular season due to players missing time because of load management, changed the requirements to earn an All-NBA spot, or any other regular-season award, by needing to play in at least 65 games to be eligible.
Which presents the biggest challenge for James to maintain this streak this season.
On Tuesday, against their crosstown rivals the LA Clippers, the Lakers play their 17th game of the season, which means they have exactly 65 games remaining.
James made his season debut after missing the first 14 games because of sciatica, a nerve issue that affected his lower back and down the right side of his body.
What that means is this: From now until the Lakers’ regular-season finale on April 12, James can only miss three games to stay eligible for All-NBA.
And the Lakers have 11 more back-to-backs remaining on the schedule.
James’ longtime friend and agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, told ESPN that he hasn’t discussed James’ All-NBA prospects for this season.
However, if it were up to Paul, James would take himself out of the running for it.
«Look, at 41 years of age, I hope he is not playing back-to-backs,» Paul said. «But at the same time, in order for him to make the All-NBA team and things like that … he can’t miss that many more games.»
While there have been occasional cases of a team ruling out back-to-backs for a player because of their injury history — the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard and the Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid are recent examples — it’s rarer for a team to do it simply because of age.
Last month, the Golden State Warriors took back-to-backs off the table for 39-year-old center Al Horford, with coach Steve Kerr announcing matter-of-factly during the preseason that Horford simply wouldn’t play both legs.
But it’s hard to imagine James acquiescing to a similar arrangement. Last season, after completing a back-to-back by playing 74 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Clippers in the middle of his 22nd year in the league, James spoke about his professional philosophy.
«I’ve always thought in order to be a leader of a team and someone that is relied on, your availability is very key,» James said. «To be available to your teammates. And I know it’s a tough season. There’s tough seasons every single year. And a lot of games hit us. You never know how the schedule is going to fall out. But I try to be available as much as I can.»
It’s a responsibility, sources with knowledge of his thinking told ESPN, that James takes seriously.
He came into last season with a stated intention of playing in all 82 games — something he had only done once in his career in 2017-18.
That goal lasted 23 games. With L.A. entering a soft portion of the schedule in mid-December, James missed two straight games and secured eight days of rest to recover from foot soreness.
During that time, for what Lakers coach JJ Redick termed «personal reasons,» James was granted an excused absence away from the team.
Redick voted for the All-NBA teams in 2023-24 when he worked for ESPN, putting James on the third team on his ballot. He recognizes their importance.
«I mean, historically at least, it’s probably a higher designation than being an All-Star,» Redick said. «I think if you look at Hall of Fame tracking, typically, obviously it’s changing, more and more guys are getting in now, but typically it’s the more All-NBA awards you have, the greater your chances, versus having eight All-Star appearances [for example].
«There’s still a couple guys that are out that have multiple All-Star appearances that haven’t gotten in, so I think it’s important for that.»
Redick said in all his offseason conversations with James, James’ desire to keep his All-NBA streak alive «never came up.»
Still, Redick has his own opinion about any potential pursuit of a 22nd straight All-NBA selection for James though.
«I don’t think an All-NBA appearance this year is going to make or break his résumé,» Redick said.
What could enhance James’ résumé, though, would be another championship, bringing his total to five.
Giving James a night off here and there, from now until mid-April, would help save his legs for what the Lakers hope is a deep playoff run.
At the same time, if James believes this could be his last season — something that sources close to James have insisted that he remains undecided about — he might feel even more responsibility to suit up for every game on what would then be a retirement tour.
Redick said that James’ availability night to night would be determined by a group including James, Redick, James’ longtime athletic trainer Mike Mancias and Dr. Leroy Sims, the Lakers’ director of player performance and health.
For James to play in 65 of the Lakers’ final 68 games would be remarkable enough.
To play well enough in those games to still be considered one of the 15 best players in the NBA, at 41, would be even more so.
