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What LeBron James Did Before All-Star Game Impacted Devin Booker

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Nathaniel Holloway | Last updated Feb 18, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The 2025 NBA All-Star Game took place on Sunday night, but one of the game’s biggest stars did not play in the game.

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers was selected to his NBA record 21st All-Star game this season and he was set to compete on Shaquille O’Neal’s team, Shaq’s OGs, who ended up winning the championship game in the new mini tournament format. Instead, LeBron announced a few hours before tipoff that he would sit out of the game due to lingering discomfort in his left foot and ankle.

The 40-year-old superstar sat out of the Lakers’ win over the Indiana Pacers last weekend because of the same injury, but many expected the superstar to play in the All-Star game. Instead, LeBron missed the first All-Star appearance of his career.

While LeBron probably made the right choice to miss the game to avoid a more serious injury, he could have notified the NBA well ahead of the game so that they could have replaced him with another Western Conference star.

Of course, one possible replacement for LeBron could have been Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns. Booker has had an incredible season thus far and was one of the biggest All-Star snubs this season.

This season, the 28-year-old is averaging 26.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 45.3% from the field and 33.9% from three-point range. His numbers have dipped this season compared to last season, but they are still good enough for him to have been an All-Star, even if he was named as a replacement for LeBron.

While Booker was not named an All-Star this season, his teammate, Kevin Durant, was named one, and he represented the Suns well. Durant helped lead Shaq’s OGs to the championship in the All-Star game Sunday night with LeBron on the sidelines.

Despite Booker not being an All-Star this season, he and the Suns will now be able to focus on the regular season as they look to make a late playoff push.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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