Thursday night, the starting lines for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game were revealed. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers will play for the Western Conference.

Along with Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he is starting. The pick is historic for James because it is his 20th straight All-Star start. He is the only player in NBA history to do this.

With his 20th pick in his 21st season, he now has more than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 19 picks. Right now, it’s hard to find a career or production record that doesn’t belong to James. Every year, he adds to his already all-time great record.

James talked about how important it was for him to be chosen and how much it means to him to have such loyal fans that, after 21 years, they still vote for him more than anyone else in his conference.

“First, as I said in the talk after the game. “First and foremost, I told them to thank and honor my fans for being with me for 21 years and vote me in as an All-Star starter for the 20th year in a row,” James said. “I’m just grateful to be able to do what I love.” I just want to give back to the game that has given me so much over the past 20 years.

“So you can see that this is the first time in NBA history that there have been this many All-Star starts, or whatever it is. It’s pretty cool.” Of course, I grew up watching the All-Star Game and seeing the greats play. I thought, “When I start playing the game, I hope I get to play on that floor on a Sunday during All-Star Weekend.” And I’ve been lucky enough to do that 19 times. In two weeks, it will be 20. That’s pretty cool.”

For James, these events are no longer about meeting or going beyond what was expected. He wants to keep doing what he loves and enjoy the praise that comes with it.

“I mean, I’ve done better than expected in my career.” “It’s really impressive to be able to keep doing great things throughout your career,” James said. “But I’ve done even better than I ever thought possible now that I’m in the NBA.” That was a long time ago. Everything else is just extra points, then. It makes me feel very humble that I can still play the game I love and have accomplished these things along the way.

James has the best record in NBA history right now. In 21 years, he’s done almost everything a player can do, and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. James is still very much in charge of the Lakers, and they could be in the running for a title while he gets ready to play in the same league as his son, who may be joining the NBA next season. The cherry on top of all that history is his 20th All-Star start.