“LaMelo Ball over Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker? ESPN, you gotta run some drug tests!”: Stephen A. Smith goes on a rant over ESPN’s Best 25 under 25 list

First Take’s host Stephen A. Smith goes on a full-blown rant about ESPN’s Best 25 under 25 List, heated about LaMelo Ball’s position

ESPN published an article on their website a few hours ago, which had a list of the top 25 players under 25 years of age. The list is claimed to be sorted based on future potential. ESPN decided to rank Luka Doncic at the top spot, Zion on the second, and LaMelo Ball on the third.

 

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This list, especially LaMelo Ball’s ranking in the same has caused a lot of ruckus. ESPN decided to list Ball over other players who have shown their worth such as Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Ben Simmons, and Devin Booker.

“ESPN needs to run some drug tests!”: Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith has been with ESPN for the last 17+ years. In his 17 years tenure, he has reported about various things. However, there have been very few things that were as blasphemous as this list.

In the latest episode of the First Take, Stephen A. took apart the list published by ESPN. He started his rant by being surprised that this list was published by ESPN.

Then he went on to point out that Devin Booker isn’t even in the top 5, despite all that he has done, and the respect he has earned on the court. He then went on to question the fact that LaMelo Ball, a rookie, has been placed over players like Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Jayson Tatum.

Blasphemy. And I love LaMelo. My rookie of the year. But come on! pic.twitter.com/IzmekG7S4s

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 6, 2021

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Stephen A. was extremely shocked Ben Simmons was so far below in the list, despite him being a DPOY candidate this season. Smith went as far as to disassociate himself with the part of ESPN who made this list, despite working with ESPN for over 17 years.

While LaMelo has had a stellar rookie season, it isn’t fair to plot him over other players such as Spida, Booker, Tatum, who have proven their worth on the court.