The Christmas and New Years' holidays around the NBA are usually celebrated with the opening of the All-Star voting. The league has opened up voting for this prestigious event on Christmas Day. It signifies the start of serious discussions in the NBA community about what players need to be All-Stars. This will be great for the Los Angeles Lakers, as they need to step out of the spotlight for a few weeks. The Lakers are the disappointment of the season, as they were poised to be championship favorites. Now, at 18-19, they are in a dire fight for the postseason. Thus, while they are the team with the most All-Stars in history, according to Statmuse, here is the only Lakers player who needs to be an All-Star.

Lone Lakers All-Star 

LeBron James 

Without surprise, it will be LeBron James who will start in the 2022 NBA All-Star game, come February. The Lakers were poised to have multiple All-Stars this year, especially due to the addition of Russell Westbrook. Westbrook has made the All-Star team nine times in the past, but the last time was in 2019-20, with the Houston Rockets. As things stand now, the only representative of the Lakers will be James.

He will do it with style, though, as James is having another amazing year. At the age of 37, LeBron James is averaging an incredible 28.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.1 blocks, shooting 52.5% from the field, and 37.6% from three-point range. Even more impressive than that, James is currently on an amazing run. In the last seven games, he is averaging 36 points, 10.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.6 blocks, shooting 57.8% from the field, and 42.1% from behind the arc. His Lakers won only two of these last seven, but it is still a mighty stat line.

James, if he continues on this path, might sneak himself into the MVP discussion as well. His numbers are historic, as there is no player in NBA history with these stats at this age. The Lakers are not looking good, obviously, but James is doing everything he can to put them on his back. Without a proper contribution from his team, it is a tough job, but it is a testament to the greatness of LeBron James that the Lakers are even still in the discussion for the playoffs in the West.

He does not have the narrative this year, even though one can argue that he has one, albeit negative in nature. However, James will still be the first name on many All-Star ballots. NBA fans around the world continue to be impressed by the iconic games and stat lines produced by the King, even though the Lakers struggled to pull off two wins out of the last seven games. The winning record usually does not mean much in All-Star debates, so not putting James in the starting line-up would be a miracle unlike any other in the NBA.

The Lakers were not supposed to have only one All-Star, as underlined in the beginning. LeBron James was thought of as a lock even before the season started, as he has always been every year. However, both Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook were supposed to be there as well. Some were even suggesting that Davis will use this season to further solidify his future dominance over the Lakers roster and slowly eclipse James who is getting on in age. What turned out on the field, however, is completely different.

On one hand, Russell Westbrook is getting triple-doubles, which seems to be his favorite discipline. He got one in the last four Lakers games, and five more in the first part of the season. On the other hand, Westbrook is having his worst season since his sophomore year in Oklahoma City statistically speaking. He is averaging 19.5 points, 8.4 assists, 8.2 rebounds, and all of that on abysmal shooting splits of 45.5/31.3/65.2. If it was not Russell Westbrook, maybe he would get into the bench, but with a deep guard All-Star field, the former Wizards guard simply cannot get in.

Anthony Davis could have had a chance, as the frontcourt is fairly thin in the West. There are locks, such as LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Karl Anthony Towns, and Paul George, but he could have been there. Unfortunately for Davis and Lakers fans, he has an MCL sprain and will, reportedly, miss at least four weeks of action. Since the injury happened on the 19th of December, he could theoretically be healthy for the All-Star weekend, but it is doubtful whether he will be included. The bench might be filled with other guys, such as Andrew Wiggins or Bojan Bogdanovic, rewarding them for their team success and great play.