LeBron James has been an All-Star a total of 17 times over his 18-year career. The one time he didn’t make the team? His very first season, when James was a 19-year-old straight out of High School.
And while it’s extremely rare for rookies to make the All-Star team, “King” James says he still believes he should have gotten in that year.
“That was an incredible moment for myself, for my family to be here. Obviously, I wanted to be in the All-Star Game, still kind of irks me a little bit, but I got over it.”
The 2004 East All-Star team featured an amazing lineup of Jermaine O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Ben Wallace, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce, Metta World Peace, Baron Davis, Jamal Malgoire, Kenyon Martin, and Michael Redd.
Those players were obviously deserving of a place on the team, but James, even at 19, had a strong case himself. With averages of 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game, he was certainly among the NBA’s best players, and it’s a shame he missed out on making the final cut.
All these years later, though, and there really isn’t anything LeBron hasn’t done. As a 4x MVP, 16x All-NBA player, and 4x Champion, James is as accomplished as they come even if he did miss out on making that All-Star team years ago.
