All-Star James

For more than two decades, LeBron James' name on the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star starting lineup was not so much announced as assumed.

- ANTHONY L. CUAYCONG

It was a constant, arriving with the same predictability as the very passage of time. From his teenage emergence in Cleveland to his late-career stewardship in Los Angeles, the distinction was both an honor than a reaffirmation of a central truth in pro hoops: year after year, he remained its most enduring axis. This season, for the first time since his rookie year, that assumption no longer held.The mechanics are straightforward enough. The revised All-Star voting format, with fans' choices weighted heavily, elevated a new Western Conference starting five and left James missing the cut. To be sure, age and availability played their parts; at 41, in his 23rd campaign, he has missed games, managed his body, and picked his spots. The numbers he puts up on the board are still impressive, but they are