Which Los Angeles Lakers are most likely to make the All-Star team?

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a rut right now. JJ Redick's team is in the midst of a three-game losing streak after falling to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, and to make matters worse, it's the second game in a row that L.A. has lost by at least 25 points to a Western Conference rival after getting similarly manhandled by the Denver Nuggets over the weekend.

Lakers fans shouldn't lose hope just yet, because it's been a streaky season for their team. Just last week L.A. was riding high on a six-game string of W's, looking very much like a serious contender to defend their NBA Cup title and make a run at a top playoff seed.

In an 82-game season, it doesn't pay to get too high or too low based on short-term results. The Lakers may not pose a serious threat to grab the 1-seed, but they're also solid enough that they should feel good about their playoff chances, especially if they can make the right moves before the trade deadline.

As they have since coming to the City of Angels in 2018 and 2019, respectively, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been the main catalysts of the Lakers' success. Both players have not only displayed remarkable durability at this advanced stage of their careers, they're still among the very best players in the league.

The NBA All-Star Game isn't until February, but voting begins in less than a month. Both LeBron and Davis made the All-Star team last year, but can they make it again, and do any other Lakers have a chance to join them?

Which Lakers will make the All-Star team?

Let's begin with LeBron, who will be looking to extend his NBA record run of 20 consecutive All-Star Game appearances. King James has rewritten the NBA record book in so many ways, but the fact that the next closest players to him are former Celtics greats Bob Cousy and John Havlicek with 13 straight All-Star Games apiece is one of the clearest examples of what makes him one of the best basketball players in history.

Barring injury, LeBron looks like a lock to run his streak up to 21 this year. He's third in the league with 9.2 assists per game and 22nd in scoring with 22.2 points, and when you narrow that down to just the Western Conference, he's No. 2 and No. 10. LeBron is one of just a handful of players to be shooting over 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three, and he's still one of the most popular players in the league. He'll definitely be suiting up in Indianapolis on February 16th.

Anthony Davis is having arguably the best statistical season of his career, so if he stays healthy, he appears to have his spot sewn up, as well. AD leads the West in points per game with 29.8, and his 11.4 rebounds per game trail only Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis in the conference. He also leads the West in free throws attempted and made.

LeBron and AD have always been physical specimens, but you can see the work they've continued to put into their games. Both players are shooting a career-high percentage from three, and both have thrived despite playing for their third head coach in four years.

Let's pencil in both LeBron and AD for the All-Star Game. Do any other Lakers have a chance? The answer is probably not. D'Angelo Russell is the only other current Laker with an All-Star Game appearance, and if a loaded stable of guards in the West didn't already rule him out, his recent demotion to the bench certainly would.

Austin Reaves finished in the top 10 of backcourt voting last year, and though his scoring is slightly up this year, he hasn't really taken the necessary leap to help him break through for the first time. There are a lot of very good players that won't make the cut, and Reaves is one of them.

It was announced last week that the NBA would be drastically altering the All-Star Game format this year. The change in structure is designed to inject some new excitement into the event by encouraging some actual competition in light of recent years when players gave little to no effort, resulting in a boring watch for fans.

The new format will see four teams of eight compete in a pick-up style tournament, with semifinal games being played to 40 and the final crowning a winner when one team reaches 25.

Here's why that matters for the Lakers. Dalton Knecht has made quite an impression as one of the best rookies of this class, and he'll certainly be part of the Rising Stars game on All-Star weekend as a result. If his Rising Stars team wins, they will be the fourth team represented in that tournament, with the other three consisting of players that were voted in.

This wouldn't exactly make Knecht an All-Star in his rookie year, though oddly enough he could technically still be on the winning All-Star team and even win All-Star Game MVP. He could also go against LeBron and/or AD (those two won't necessarily be on the same team, either) in a Laker vs. Laker battle that could be a lot of fun.

As fun as the All-Star Game can be, Lakers fans would much rather see their team reclaim its place near the top of the Western Conference before February rolls around. The Lakers can begin that quest on Wednesday night when they travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs.