When the 2025 NBA All-Star game tips off today, there will be a familiar face missing in action. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will not participate in the NBA All-Star Game this Sunday due to an apparent ankle injury as per Ben Golliver of The Washington Post.

LeBron James’ withdrawal from the All-Star Game comes too late to add a replacement player. James was set to play on Shaq’s OG Team alongside fellow Team USA teammates Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.

James was selected to his 21st consecutive All-Star appearance. The only season of his 22 year career that he was not named to the All-Star team was his rookie year in 2003-04. This is also the first All-Star Game James will miss when he was voted in as a starter. He had 20 consecutive starting appearances.

Throughout his career, James has won three All-Star Game MVP awards in 2006, 2008 and the most recent coming in 2018. He ranks behind Kobe Bryant and Bob Pettit who each won four All-Star Game MVP awards.

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Following the Lakers massive blockbuster trade with the Dallas Mavericks, James was set to team up once again with Anthony Davis on the OG Team, but Davis was also ruled out of the All-Star Game due to injury. Davis’ new Mavericks teammate Kyrie Irving was named his replacement.

At age 40, James is the oldest player in the NBA. This season, he has appeared in 48 games for the Lakers, at a little over 34 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 24.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists with splits of 51.6 percent shooting from the field, 39.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 75.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Prior to the All-Star Break, LeBron James had been listed on the Lakers’ injury report with the ankle injury. He missed the team’s game against the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 8. James missed three games earlier this season with a foot injury.