Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James decided to sit out of the NBA All-Star Game due to a left foot and ankle injury. This is the first time when James didn’t take part in the All-Star game in his glorious career.

James could not take the court against the Indiana Pacers last weekend because of the same injury.

“I was hoping it would feel a lot better this morning, but it was not where I wanted it to be,” James said of his ankle.

James is hopeful that he will be available for the Wednesday clash against Charlotte Hornets. The game was rescheduled to this week after the Lakers-Hornets game on Jan. 9 was postponed because of the Los Angeles wildfires

“With 30 games left and us trying to make a playoff push in the wild, wild West, I felt like it was very important for me to kind of take care of myself and understand what’s coming on [down the stretch],” James said.

James is averaging 24.3 points on 51.6% shooting (39.5% from 3), with 9.0 assists and 7.7 rebounds this season, appearing in 48 of L.A.’s 52 games.

James was asked if playing with the 25-year-old Doncic has affected how long he planned to continue to play before retiring.

“I have not given it that type of thought,” James said. “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. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. … I think we could be really good going down the stretch. But we’ll see what happens.”

James recently spoke on the large number of three-pointers scored in the NBA.

“We love our game. The game of basketball is beautiful,” James said. “[The NBA is] better from when I entered the league in 2003, and hopefully it continues to be even better when I’m done playing, as well.”