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LeBron James Announces That He Will Not Play in Sunday's All-Star Game

The 21-time All-Star announced the decision on Sunday evening.

Dan Lyons

Feb 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Western Conference forward LeBron James (23) of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles the ball during the first half of the 73rd NBA All Star game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Feb 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Western Conference forward LeBron James (23) of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles the ball during the first half of the 73rd NBA All Star game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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LeBron James, a staple of the NBA All-Star Game since his second season in the league, will not be active for tonight's event.

Just hours before the new-look All-Star format is set to debut, James announced that he will be sitting the four-team tournament out due to ankle discomfort.

"Still dealing with ankle and foot discomfort so I will not be playing tonight, unfortunately," he told the media Sunday evening.

"I was hoping it would feel a lot better this morning, but it was not where I wanted it to be," he added, per ESPN. James says he hopes to play in the Lakers' Wednesday home game against the Charlotte Hornets.

"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," James said.

James has made the All-Star Game in each season since 2004–05, his second year in the league. This will be the first All-Star Game that he's missed, snapping a streak of 20 consecutive appearances.

James was set to play for Team Shaq, alongside Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and now-former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, among others. He joked about the veteran team, while saying he looks forward to seeing the new All-Star format play out.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the format. This is the first year for it. I know we got a lot of great—they call us the O.G.'s, that's hilarious—we got a few guys with some grey hairs, so that makes sense. So that should be fun."

The new format pits teams drafted by the three analysts from TNT's Inside The NBA—Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith—along with the winning team from Friday's Rising Stars Challenge in a tournament, a first for NBA All-Star weekend.

The new-look All-Star Game tips off at 8 p.m. ET.

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Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

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