LeBron James sits out All-Star Game, ending 20-year streak of starts

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — LeBron James wanted to play in yet another All-Star Game. His left foot and ankle didn't let him.

The NBA's career scoring leader announced about 90 minutes before the start of the competition on Sunday that he couldn't play, citing ongoing injury issues. James has been included regularly on the Los Angeles Lakers' injury list this season because of his foot and ankle, which have given him trouble for years.

For the first time since 2004, the All-Star Game happened without James.

“I hate that,” James said.

James was to play for Shaq's OGs, the team drafted by Shaquille O'Neal for the All-Star competition in this year's new mini-tournament format. James’ first All-Star Game was in 2005 and he’s been a pick every year since, so Sunday’s game would have been his 21st — extending his record. His 21 selections are another record, as is his now-snapped streak of 20 consecutive All-Star starts.

James was not replaced on his All-Star team's roster, meaning it was down to seven players — Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Dallas’ Kyrie Irving, Boston teammates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard and the Los Angeles Clippers’ James Harden.

“I was hoping that it would feel a lot better this morning, but it’s not where I want it to be,” James said. “And with 30 games left and with us trying to make a playoff push in the wild, wild, West, I feel like it’s very important for me to kind of take care of myself and understand what’s coming on.

“So, I won’t say it’s maintenance, but it is maintenance,” he said. “At the same time, I have to look out for myself when it comes to this to this injury I’ve been dealing with for years.”

James said he planned to return to Los Angeles on Sunday night, with rehab resuming on Monday.

“No vacation for me,” James said.

James’ plan, for now, is to play when the Lakers start their post-All-Star slate Wednesday against Charlotte in a game that had to be rescheduled because of the wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area.

“I hope to be available on Wednesday,” James said.

Even without playing Sunday, James — the league’s oldest player, about two months removed from turning 40 — is still getting marveled about.

James is averaging 24.3 points, which is the lowest scoring average at the break of any of his 21 All-Star seasons. That is not to suggest he is slowing down: He’s averaging nine assists per game (the second-best pre-All-Star rate of his career), 7.7 rebounds and is shooting nearly 40% on 3-pointers.

The only players averaging at least 24.3 points, 9 assists and 7.7 rebounds so far this season? James and Denver’s Nikola Jokic.

“It’s 21 All-Star games? It’s mind-boggling,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “LeBron can go to 25 if he wanted to. He could. You know, we always joke amongst the coaches, every time you play LeBron, you get in LA and you say, ‘This guy keeps getting better. How is this possible?’”

The Lakers acquired Luka Doncic in a trade with Dallas earlier this month, and James says he's still processing how the league's newest star duo will work.

“Just the excitement of being able to add a caliber player like that, a generational talent like that to our franchise, it’s something that’s given me energy,” James said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. ... As he continues to get in form, I think we could be really good going down the stretch. But we’ll see what happens.”

James was never part of the NBA's dunk contest and doesn't see that changing in the final years of his career.

Some stars — Ja Morant, past dunk champion Zach LaVine and Giannis Antetokounmpo among them — said after Mac McClung's third straight dunk title on Saturday night that they may consider participating in the event.

“There’s no part of me that has regrets about not doing it,” James said. “Obviously, I had a couple moments where I wanted to do it, and it just never worked out that way going into the following season, either because of injuries or I just wasn’t up for it.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James fields questions during a press conference before the NBA basketball All-Star game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James fields questions during a press conference before the NBA basketball All-Star game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James speaks during a press conference before the NBA basketball All-Star game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

FILE - East All-Star LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers smiles during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

FILE - Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James drives down the court during the second half of the NBA All-Star basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James speaks during a press conference before the NBA basketball All-Star game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was at the White House on Thursday discussing her country's future with President Donald Trump even after he publicly dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela. His administration has signaled its willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and, along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, remains in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela and sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was expecting a positive discussion during the lunchtime meeting and called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela.

The White House said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

Leavitt said Trump is committed to seeing Venezuela hold elections “one day,” but wouldn’t say when that might happen.

Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate later Thursday. Trump has called her “a nice woman” while indicating they might not touch on major issues in their talks Thursday.

Her Washington swing began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

The White House says Venezuela has been fully cooperating with the Trump administration since Maduro’s ouster.

Rodríguez, the acting president, herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move thought to have been made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump wanted to win himself. She has since thanked Trump. Her offer to share the peace prize with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)