LOS ANGELES — LeBron James’ All-NBA streak ended and the Lakers were severely undermanned Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers announced earlier in the day that James was sidelined due to arthritis in his left ankle, along with Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain), Austin Reaves (left calf injury management) and Marcus Smart (right ankle soreness).
This was James’ 18th game missed this season, making it impossible for him to reach the 65-game threshold required to qualify for the league’s annual award.
James was named to the All-NBA team for a record-setting 21 consecutive seasons.
Lakers coach JJ Redick, speaking before the Spurs game, said game conduct standards could be used as a proposal to voters, rather than strict rules.
“I think it would be nice to have some guidance for voters,” said Reddick, who was on the NBA Awards ballot when he worked in media. “I know the first year I voted, there were a lot of guys who were around 54 games to 56 games in the standings.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said he supports the spirit of the rule, which was first adopted for the 2023-24 season.
“I think the intent behind this rule makes sense,” Johnson said. “Try to encourage and motivate your guys to play. Playing 82 regular-season games alone in this league is hard, it’s tough, you play through a lot of bumps and bruises and four-letter words. And I think that’s the skill and the demands that they push mentally, physically and emotionally. And I understand the intent.”
“Details that people should be disqualified from certain awards if 65 games is the appropriate number.” [if they do not reach it]To be honest, I didn’t think much about it. I think that definitely stinks for the players who have had really great years.”
For example, Spurs center Victor Wembaneyama played in just 46 games last season after suffering a season-ending injury in February, but he still averaged 3.8 blocks per game, leading the league, and was considered by many voters a worthy candidate for Defensive Player of the Year despite missing that much time.
Doncic is also at risk of missing the 65-game eligibility criteria after being ruled out for three straight games with what the Lakers called a “mild” strain. This brings the total number of games Doncic has missed to 11. He only needs to miss six more games to win the post-season award.
A source told ESPN that Doncic was able to run on Monday and was scheduled to participate in a 5-on-5 session with contact on Tuesday. He hasn’t ruled out playing Thursday against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, and hopes to play in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome.
Doncic, 26, became the top All-Star vote-getter for the first time in his eight-year career, collecting more than 3 million votes.
Lakers center Deandre Ayton was ruled out during the game due to soreness in his right knee and was ruled out just before tipoff.
Rookie forward Adu Tierro, who has been sidelined since Dec. 30 with an MCL sprain in his right knee, was available for the game against San Antonio.