lebron james

Even with essentially his entire starting lineup unavailable because of injuries, Lakers coach JJ Redick still looked forward to competing against a worthy opponent in the San Antonio Spurs.

Even facing a Spurs team with the second-best record in the Western Conference without LeBron James (left foot arthritis), Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain), Austin Reaves (left calf injury), Marcus Smart (right ankle) and Deandre Ayton (right knee soreness), Redick still wanted his group to compete at a high level.

It’s just that Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama competed at a level the Lakers were unable to reach, the 7-foot-4 center dominating with his season-high-tying 40 points to go along with 12 rebounds in just 26 minutes during San Antonio’s easy 136-108 win Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Wembanyama had 25 points in the first quarter alone and 37 by halftime.

“I know right now we have to contend with him and he’s one of the five best players in the world,” Redick said. “He’s put that stamp on himself. It’s more than counting the stats with him, because there is such an avoidance of him defensively and there is an awareness you have from him defensively.”

Luke Kennard had 14 points and five assists, Drew Timme had 14 points and Bronny James had 12 points and six assists for the Lakers (32-21).

For LeBron James, missing the game meant the Lakers’ All-Star became ineligible for NBA postseason awards, ending his streak of making the All-NBA team at 21 seasons. The league’s threshold to be eligible for postseason awards is 65 games. The most James can reach is 64 if he does not sit out another game.

James, playing in his NBA-record 23rd season, missed the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica, making it difficult to meet the threshold.

Redick said James has been “dealing with the history of injuries he’s had and to start the year.”

“Just depends on how he wakes up the next day and as he goes through his treatment in the morning,” Redick added. “But we ruled him out.”

Doncic missed his third straight game with his injury. The Lakers next play Thursday night here against the Mavericks, Doncic’s former team. Redick said Doncic was listed as “day to day” when asked if his All-Star would play against the Mavericks.

Doncic, the leading-vote getter for Sunday’s All-Star Game, has been working out and playing some five-on-five action to get ready.

“Luka continues to progress,” Redick said.

Before playing in the last four games, Reaves had missed the previous 19 with his calf injury.

Redick said Reaves “was coming back from a tissue injury” and was “only going to play in one of these games.”

Lakers forward Drew Timme tries to fend off Spurs guard Dylan Harper in the first half.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Redick said Smart tweaked his ankle in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game and had a “pretty high level of soreness” when he woke up Tuesday.

Ayton had been listed as questionable and was being called a game-time decision before the game because Redick said Ayton is dealing with “his knee again.”

So, it was left up to the rest of the healthy Lakers to deal with Wembanyama and the Spurs.

The Lakers lost on Monday night to the Thunder, the defending NBA champions, who also have the best record in the league, and then had this back-to-back game against the tough Spurs.

“He makes me feel like a normal size dude,” Timme, who is 6-0, said laughing. “It’s crazy. But I mean, it’s that size, coordination and athleticism, it’s crazy. I mean, he’s really one of a kind. What they call him, the ‘Alien?’ Like, he’s a really good player. A lot of times people are like, ‘Well, if I had that height or if I had that…’ I mean, he has that but he also has the skill. I mean, he’s a really skilled, talented player and I think that’s why he’s so good. There’s a lot of tall players that can’t do that and I think that’s what really separates him.”

Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard, the NBA’s seventh-leading scorer and likely the most deserving player left off the All-Star Game reserves, was added to one of the U.S. rosters for the new mini-tournament that will take place Feb. 15 at Intuit Dome.

He’ll play alongside Lakers forward LeBron James and former Clippers teammate Norman Powell of the Heat.

The NBA announced the rosters for the U.S. vs. the World format with the 10 starters, 14 reserves and Leonard split onto three squads: Team USA Stars featuring younger players, Team USA Stripes with the old guard and Team World with foreign players.

It’s a concept that NBA commissioner Adam Silver thinks will tap into national pride for the players and comes at a fitting time. The game will be aired on NBC, which is also broadcasting the Milan-Cortina Olympics that start this week and run through Feb. 22.

The U.S.-vs.-World concept was talked about for years before becoming a reality this season. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association unveiled the long-awaited plan in their latest attempt to spark renewed interest in the game following a largely panned tournament format last season.

Towns was born in New Jersey but has played international basketball for the Dominican Republic — his late mother’s homeland.

The NBA had said in recent months that it would adjust roster sizes as needed to ensure all three teams had at least eight players, the minimum required under the new format. Giannis Antetokounmpo is not expected to play for the World team because of injury, which is why that squad has nine players.

Team USA Stars: Scottie Barnes (Raptors), Devin Booker (Suns), Cade Cunningham (Pistons), Jalen Duren (Pistons), Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Chet Holmgren (Thunder), Jalen Johnson (Hawks), Tyrese Maxey (76ers).

Team USA Stripes: Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Jalen Brunson (Celtics), Stephen Curry (Warriors), Kevin Durant (Rockets), LeBron James (Lakers), Kawhi Leonard (Clippers), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers), Norman Powell (Heat).

Team World: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers), Luka Doncic (Lakers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Nikola Jokic (Nuggets), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Pascal Siakam (Pacers), Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks), Victor Wembanyama (Spurs).

Associated Press and nba.com contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — Lakers star LeBron James made the NBA All-Star team for a record 22nd time Sunday after being selected as a Western Conference reserve by NBA coaches.

James had been selected as an All-Star starter 21 consecutive times, an NBA record, but fans didn’t choose him this season. The 41-year-old James is just the second player to earn multiple All-Star selections after the age of 40, joining Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Denver’s Jamal Murray, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, Houston’s Kevin Durant, Phoenix’s Devin Booker and Portland’s Deni Avdija also were named Western Conference reserves.

The Eastern Conference reserves are Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Indiana’s Pascal Siakam, Miami’s Norman Powell, Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Detroit’s Jalen Duren.

Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, seventh in scoring at 28.7 points per game and first in steals (2.1), could be chosen by commissioner Adam Silver to replace Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s a starter but is injured.

James was averaging 21.9 points, 6.6 assists and 5.8 rebounds over 33.1 minutes per game. He was shooting 50.2% from the field and 34.9% from three-point range through 30 games.

James missed the first 14 games because of sciatica and started slowly when he returned, but has been playing at a higher level recently.

In January, James scored 109 fourth-quarter points, tied with Durant for the most in the NBA. James helped the Lakers post a league-best 14-2 record in clutch games entering Sunday’s game at New York.

James will join Lakers teammate Luka Doncic, who had the most All-Star votes, in the Feb. 15 game at the Clippers’ home arena, Intuit Dome.

The new All-Star format will be a three-team tournament that features two U.S. teams and one world team. The U.S. teams will have 16 players and the world will have eight. Doncic, who is from Slovenia, will play for the world team.

The teams play a round-robin of 12-minute games, with the top teams advancing to the final 12-minute championship.

CLEVELAND  — He hears it in nearly every arena the Lakers enter.

“We want Bronny. We want Bronny.”

But on Monday night in Cleveland’s Rocket Arena, where the familiar chant reached arena-filling decibels, it felt different. It felt like home.

Bronny James provided some of the few Lakers highlights in the team’s worst loss of the year — a 129-99 drubbing by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday — to turn an emotional homecoming for his father into a happy return for the 21-year-old. James scored eight points with two rebounds, an assist and a steal. He knocked down two three pointers and slammed a one-handed transition dunk to elicit a roar from the crowd that welcomed back a son they watched grow up.

Laker Bronny James #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers shakes hands with the Cavliers’ Larry Nance Jr. Wednesday.

(Jason Miller / Getty Images)

“I was just excited to go out there and play,” James said. “I’m always ready to go out and play, whether that’s when the entire arena is saying ‘We want Bronny‘ or no one is. I was just really, really grateful that they put me in at that time and I was able to go out and get a few buckets.”

With the Lakers trailing by 20 by the third quarter, the chants for James started early. “We want Bronny” chants occur at nearly every Lakers game, almost turning the young guard’s playing time into a sideshow instead of much-needed opportunities for a developing player trying to find his footing in the NBA.

James hadn’t played in a game since Jan. 18 and hadn’t scored since Jan. 12. But he got on the scoreboard in thrilling fashion Wednesday night, tipping away a crosscourt pass and taking the ball in transition for a dunk that left even his dad nodding approval from the bench.

“He handles all of it so well,” said guard Gabe Vincent, who called Bronny “a light” in the Lakers’ otherwise forgettable blowout. “It’s incredible. His maturity through it all is incredible. … It’s great to see him have a moment like that.”

The former USC guard who also scored his first NBA points in Cleveland as a rookie last year has bounced between the Lakers and the team’s G League affiliate this year as he hopes to make strides as a shooter and on-ball defender while “building up his tolerance for being in elite shape,” coach JJ Redick said. James has had some promising moments, especially when the Lakers were short-handed earlier this season, showing quicker decision making and increased confidence shooting the ball.

Monday was just the second time in his career that he made two threes in a game.

“He’s as level headed and just as normal of a 21-year-old as I’ve ever been around,” Redick said.

When the Lakers got to the arena Monday, James was welcomed home by a childhood photo of him on a screen outside the visiting locker room. It showed him on stage in 2016 during the Cavaliers’ championship celebration wearing a championship hat and white T-shirt, holding up one finger.

LeBron James glanced at the championship banner from that team before the game Monday, fueling the intense emotions of what could be his last game in his hometown against the team that launched his NBA dreams in 2003.

The Cavaliers, wearing navy blue throwback uniforms, showed a tribute video for LeBron James during the first quarter, highlighting James’ takeover of Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals in which he scored 25 consecutive points. Bronny was 3 years old at the time. Almost two decades later, he remembered all the afternoons he spent at the Cavaliers arena after school.

“It’s literally my entire life,” Bronny said of the city of Cleveland. “So just really appreciative of all the people that show some love. I just remember being a kid and being here pretty much every day after school. It’s a bunch of nostalgia coming back and being here.”

The James family was prepared for the occasion. LeBron scanned the arena before the game to find his mother in a suite. She once watched him begin his career in this very arena, now she was watching both her son and her grandson play in the same game. After saying it out loud, the elder James struggled to process 5 idea.

“I don’t even know how to even, like, wrap that all in one in my brain,” LeBron James said. “It’s so weird and so cool and so surreal. My mom gets to watch her son and her grandson play in the NBA at the same time.”

Gloria James waited in the hallway outside the Lakers locker room to take photos with her son and then her grandson. Bronny was the last Laker out of the arena, stopping to take dozens of photos with family members dressed in purple and gold Lakers jerseys. His grandmother told him to “act right.” He promised to oblige.