For twenty-one seasons LeBron James was on one of the All-NBA teams. On 26 May 2026, the league announced the final list of 15 players for the 2025/26 season - and LeBron is not on it. The streak that started in 2004/05 with selection to the second team (alongside Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen) is broken.

The reason is not the game. The reason is the rulebook. The NBA introduced the „65 games" rule for individual awards, and LeBron played only 60 this season. He missed the first 14 games with sciatica in his back, and those 14 games knocked him out of the vote pool.

Is that fair? Everyone will argue until midnight. But the stats are convincing without the title: 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists per game in his 41st year. That is an All-Star line, not a pensioner's. The Lakers finished fourth in the Western Conference and reached the second round of the playoffs - not least thanks to LeBron.

Now comes the other story: LeBron has an expiring contract worth 52.6 million dollars. The whole league is watching what his next decision will be. Retirement? Another season with the Lakers? A dramatic move to a club with a better shot at the ring?

The historic record of 21 seasons on All-NBA is not going to be broken any time soon. LeBron was on every team from Wade to Edwards - that is a player who saw three different generations of NBA stars and stayed on top through them all. Breaking the streak is a statistical footnote. The career is already in the Hall of Fame.