NBA Notes: Lakers, LeBron James, Sixers, Tyrese Maxey, Suns

Lakers

For the first time in more than two decades, LeBron James is not an All-Star starter. That alone tells you how unusual this season has been.

James missed the first 14 games with sciatica, never had a training camp, and had to play his way into shape on the fly. That matters in a loaded Western Conference, even for someone who has made the All-Star Game 21 times, the most in league history.

The numbers still look like LeBron. He is averaging 22.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.9 rebounds while shooting just over 50 percent from the field.

The issue is availability. James has already missed 17 of the Lakers’ first 41 games, and the West is stacked with younger players who have been there every night.

Now it is up to the coaches. If James is selected as a reserve, the streak lives on. If not, it ends for the first time since 2005.

Either way, the fact this is even a conversation tells you how unforgiving the conference has become.

76ers

Tyrese Maxey keeps checking boxes.

The Sixers guard was named an All-Star starter for the first time and is in the middle of a career year. Maxey is averaging 30.3 points, 6.7 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and nearly two steals per game while leading the league in minutes.

Speaking Monday, Maxey made it clear he is thinking bigger.

“I would love to play for Team USA,” he said, via PHLY Sixers. “If that opportunity comes, I’ll be there.”

Given how this season has gone, that does not sound like a stretch. Maxey has gone from emerging star to face-of-the-franchise territory, and Philadelphia’s resurgence tracks directly with his rise.

Suns

Help is finally coming.

Jalen Green is expected to return Tuesday in Philadelphia after missing most of the season with a right hamstring strain. Suns coach Jordan Ott said the decision to hold Green out Monday was simply about caution.

“Just giving him the extra day,” Ott said, via Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “No setbacks.”

Green has played only twice this season after initially injuring the hamstring in camp and aggravating it during his ramp-up. When he did debut in November, he scored 29 points in 23 minutes, then exited his next game seven minutes in with the same issue.

The Suns insist the long layoff was about patience, not recurrence. Green will re-enter the starting lineup immediately, a notable development for a team that has stayed afloat without one of its primary scorers.

If Green looks anything like himself, Phoenix gets a different gear in the second half.