LeBron James has outlasted almost every player, every era, and every logic of what longevity should look like, but he is suddenly up against a rule he may not be able to beat. The NBA’s 65-game minimum for awards has already knocked out several stars over the last two seasons.
And it now threatens the longest All-NBA streak the league has ever seen. The King is just four missed games away from becoming ineligible for the end-of-season awards. In year 23, at 40 years old, the margin is razor-thin for LeBron.
The Lakers play their 15th game of the season against the Utah Jazz, and LeBron has missed the last 14 games. He’s listed as a game-time decision, which means he could finally return tonight. But the math doesn’t care. If he sits four more times after this point, intentionally or not, the streak dies.
That streak has lasted 21 straight seasons. No one else has ever reached that territory. It is one of the quietest, strongest, and most absurd records in NBA history. He has 13 first-team selections, four second-team selections, and four third-team selections. He was an elite in the defensive slugfest of the 2000s. He carried the league on his back in the 2010s. And he again adapted in the new modern era of pace and space.
LeBron outclassed his entire class. He has outlasted draft classes that have come after him. And he has stayed relevant while the sport around him kept evolving.
This year has been different. The sciatic nerve issue cost him the first month of the season. Even if he returns now, the Lakers will protect him. They have no choice. He turns 41 soon. They need him in April and May, not in a random back-to-back in December. Asking him to grind through nearly every remaining game feels impossible. Even if he avoids another injury, the training staff will choose to rest some nights.
They won’t risk his postseason availability for the sake of an award.
That’s why the writing feels clear. The rule is going to end his All-NBA streak, not his talent. That’s the irony. He is still good enough to make a team. The Lakers have felt his absence more than anyone expected, especially in big games.
Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have done the heavy lifting, but the offense changes completely once LeBron is back. He can still impose himself. He just cannot outrun math, time, and a rule designed to curb load management across the league.
When this season wraps, the conversation won’t be whether LeBron deserved an All-NBA spot. It will be about how wild it is that it took a brand new rule and twenty-plus years of miles on his body to finally put an end to a run that may never be matched again.
