LeBron James Will Sit Out All-Star Game For First Time In 20 Years Due To Ankle Injury

For the first time in two decades, an NBA All-Star Game will take place without LeBron James.

The most boring mid-season break in North American sports is taking place at the Chase Center in San Francisco tonight. Not many of the fans care, because it's obvious that the players give minimal effort. Heck, it's gotten so bad that the NBA is literally begging players to show some sign of effort in the game.

Don’t expect a lot of headlines to come from this game, it's probably not going to be anything special. However, one bit of news broke before the game started, and it came via James.

Last weekend, the Los Angeles Lakers forward sat out his team’s victory over the Indiana Pacers because of a nagging injury. Evidently, the All-Star break has not given him enough time to recover, and as a result, he is sitting out Sunday’s game.

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 10: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks to pass the ball during the game against the Utah Jazz on February 10, 2025 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)

"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. 

It will be the first time since the 2003-04 season that James will not appear in the All-Star Game.

Normally, I would call this weak behavior from James. But given that the Lakers are currently No. 5 in the Western Conference and James doesn’t have many more playoff runs in the tank, this seems like a good choice.

"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’s not like he’s going to miss anything special either, its basically a glorified pick-up game.