LeBron James' All-NBA Team Run In Jeopardy

After 21 consecutive years of All-NBA honors, LeBron James might miss the cut in 2025⁠–26, not because he's lost a step (though he has) and not because he is not talented enough (because he still is), but because of a rule designed to keep stars on the court.

The NBA's 65-game minimum requirement for All-NBA consideration, implemented before the 2023⁠–24 season to combat load management, could end one of basketball's most remarkable consistency streaks. At 41 years old, James is playing his 23rd season, and while he's still putting up solid numbers (21 points, 6.8 assists, 5.4 rebounds) when he suits up, staying healthy for 65 games is becoming more of a challenge.

Ironically, for the most part, James has been the model of durability throughout his career, playing deep into the playoffs year after year while maintaining elite production. He made his first All-NBA Team as a twenty-year-old, set the league record for making it as a thirty-nine-year-old, and made it last year as a forty-year-old. But now, a well-intentioned rule meant to discourage rest days might be what finally breaks his streak, not Father Time himself.

The NBA created this rule to ensure the league's best players actually play, but it could penalize a legend who's given the game everything. James's missed time this season isn't only about sitting out back-to-backs or strategically resting; it's about a 41-year-old body managing the wear and tear of two decades in the world's most athletic basketball league, with sciatica causing him to sit out the first fourteen games of the year. 

If the streak ends, it won't diminish what James has accomplished. Twenty-one straight All-NBA selections are absurd, a testament to both his greatness and longevity. But perhaps it's fitting that the streak ends this way, not with voters turning their backs on him, but with his body simply needing more rest than the calendar allows.

James has defied age longer than anyone thought possible, but the sciatica that sidelined him for fourteen games is a reminder that even the most durable athletes can't outlast Father Time forever.