LeBron James ruled himself out of the 2025 All-Star game due to injury. His decision to wait until an hour before the game to make the announcement has received widespread criticism. The Los Angeles Lakers star had missed the opening two days of the weekend
Speaking on a Feb. 17 episode of ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ Kendrick Perkins shared his frustration with LeBron’s decision-making throughout the All-Star event.
“Do I have a problem with LeBron James missing the All-Star game at the age of 40 because of injury? Absolutely not,” Perkins said. “But it’s how he did it. And he knew that he wasn’t going to play when he probably was selected to play in the All-Star game. How about giving people a heads up? Not showing up to the actual All-Star weekend an hour before the game starts.”
Perkins continued.
“And now, all of a sudden, you’re taking away from another guy that probably earned to be in the All-Star game…Put your damn uniform on. That’s another thing; it came off as him being selfish. It looked selfish on his part…He should have handled it in a better way.”
Due to LeBron’s absence, one of the All-Star teams had to proceed with a 7-man rotation. Furthermore, fans in attendance were unable to see the veteran superstar in what could potentially be his final All-Star appearance, depending if he chooses to continue playing beyond this season.
Lakers’ Dalton Knecht Was Excited to Face LeBron
Dalton Knecht was part of ‘Team C,’ which defeated the G-League squad in the final of the Rising Stars game. That victory set up a matchup against Shaquille O’Neal’s ‘OG Squad’ on Feb. 16.
When speaking to the media after Team C’s win, Knecht shared his excitement at facing his Lakers teammate in the All-Star game.
“It might be a lot of fun. I get to play against (LeBron), right? So I get to play against one of my teammates and try to make a statement,” Knecht said.
Unfortunately for Knecht and the wider NBA fanbase, LeBron’s absence took some of the shine away from the event. After all, he’s still the biggest draw in the league despite being 40 years old.
Lakers Not Expected to Win Championship This Year
Shortly after the Lakers shocked the world by acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, giving up Anthony Davis in the process, they swung a deal for Mark Williams of the Charlotte Hornets. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Rob Pelinka was forced to rescind the trade when Williams failed his medical.
According to former Lakers champion Danny Green, who was speaking on a recent episode of FanDuel TV’s ‘Run It Back,’ missing out on Williams means the Lakers front office should focus on building for the future.
“They can win some games, but they’re not in a win-now situation,” Green said. “They had great moves for the future and win-now when they had Mark Williams. But, now it’s just Luka. You gotta build around him this summer because you can’t do it now…Mark Williams was a good piece.”
The pairing of Doncic and LeBron should be enough to ensure the Lakers are competitive in the postseason. The front office also added Alex Len to provide additional depth at center. Whatever happens, the Lakers should be serious contenders for the next five-to-ten years, even if they don’t go all the way this season.
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