“LeBron James Passes 40,000 Points, They Lose”: Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Lakers for Ruining LBJ’s Special Moments, Claims They’ll Lose to OKC in Playoffs

LeBron James has created history by becoming the only NBA player to have scored 40,000 career points, thus leading the players in the total career points table. The moment would have been even more special had the Los Angeles Lakers won the game against the Denver Nuggets on March 2. However, Nikola Jokic and Co. overwhelmed this moment for LeBron James by handing the Lakers a 10-point 124-114 defeat in that game.

In their next game since this defeat, the Lakers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder with a scoreline of 116-104. D’Angelo Russell sealed the deal for the Lakers by scoring five 3-pointers and 26 points, while LeBron James and Anthony Davis added 19 and 26 points to this win. A day after this win, First Take analysts Stephen A. Smith, JJ Redick, and Shannon Sharpe discussed the Lakers’ recent outings, realizing that the rest of the team often underperforms to ruin the special moments for LBJ.

SAS seemed quite dismayed by the recent performances of the Lakers, especially given the Lakers losing by close margins to the other Western Conference teams. Though the win against OKC was quite impressive, Smith is unconvinced that the Lakers could even show such a performance in a seven-game playoff against the Thunder. When SAS was asked to choose between OKC and the Lakers meeting in the playoffs, the ESPN analyst picked OKC, stating his distrust in the Lakers’ shot-making ability.

To help keep his remark on the table, SAS explained,

“Last year, when LeBron broke Kareem’s all-time record, they lost that game. They lost it in the Western Conference Finals; they get swept. They go to the home over; they get swept. Kobe’s statue is unveiled, they lose. LeBron passes 40,000 points; they lose.” 

In his explosive rant, Smith was disappointed in the team for not showing up for LeBron James in his great moments as such. While some players show flashes of brilliance, the lackluster performances, as Stephen A. blames, ruin special moments that could highlight both LeBron’s and the Lakers’ achievements.

Speaking of OKC, SAS believes the team has height and a good girth within their roster. However, the star player who could be the show stealer against the Lakeshow could be the young Thunder star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Smith has been touting Gilgeous-Alexander to win the MVP title this season and believes that the OKC star could make a difference in a playoff faceoff against the Lakers. With this, Smith placed his bets on OKC winning a future playoff series in seven games if they faced the Lakers in the upcoming postseason.

Skip Bayless believes the Lakers are the best team in the NBA at the moment

Skip Bayless is known for his harsh criticism of the Lakers and LeBron James on many occasions. However, to the contrary, it seems like the veteran analyst has developed a new-found fawning over LA since their win against the OKC last night. On his show Undisputed, Bayless declared that the Lakers were the ‘best team’ in the league despite being a ninth seed.

The veteran analyst explained his choice of words and said, “They went on a 102 to 65 run against the best team record-wise in the Western Conference. That team [Lakers] I saw the last night for that stretch, the best team in the National Basketball Association(NBA).”

The FS1 host considers this win special, given that the Thunder had maintained an incredible record in back-to-back games this season while keeping a +18 point differential. Furthermore, Bayless added how the Lakers have won three straight games against the Thunder and recently defeated the fourth-seed Clippers in the Conference. On that note, the FS1 veteran analyst highly touts the Lakers as one of the worthy title contenders, given their performances against the top seed teams off late.