LeBron James’ Selfless Play Has Stephen A. Smith Believing Lakers Can Get to the ‘Western Conference Finals’

Joseph Galizia | 06/12/2025
Dec 4, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a win over the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

Greatness doesn’t need to end with a whimper, but with a bang. LeBron James’ 1,297-game streak of scoring double-digit points in the regular season was in jeopardy during the Los Angeles Lakers’ latest matchup against the Toronto Raptors. With the game tied, James had only 8 points on a poor shooting night from the floor. The Lakers were inbounding the ball to try and win the game in regulation before going to OT. And then it happened.

James got the ball and started driving to the hoop. When the King drew in the defense, he quickly kicked it out to Rui Hachimura in the corner, who sank a buzzer-beating walk-off three to give the Purple and Gold a 123–120 victory. James’ streak came to an end at his own hands by doing the very thing he has always done throughout his historic career: making the right play.

The assist has been widely discussed, including by one of the 40-year-old’s television antagonists, Stephen A. Smith. But instead of criticism this time, the $100 million man showered James with praise for the assist during the latest edition of his First Take program.

“This is one of the top four plays in the history of basketball. I believe top two,” said SAS in a serious tone.

While that title might be a little exaggerated, the stakes of the moment said otherwise. Again, it was a play that someone like James would make 10 times out of 10, regardless of what streak or championship was on the line. Rui was wide open in the corner while James had two defenders on him. The right play was to feed the open man.

For Smith to publicly applaud James for this shows how far he’s come from his feud with The King from a season ago. “The Lakers are a Top 2 seed in the Western Conference right now and putting everybody on notice that they are going to have some say,” stated Smith.

That said, Smith believes that the Lakers‘ ceiling bottoms out whenever they have to face the defending champions. “Now that ain’t going to happen against OKC. That’s when the walls close in and reality sets in,” he joked.

“But against anybody else. The Lakers can do it. They can get to the Western Conference Finals, and it’s because of plays like that. Because you’ve got LeBron James showing that he’s willing to do what it takes to win because winning is the priority.”

What happened against the Raptors was just another memorable page in James’ future historic biography. Does it match his incredible block in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals or the number of game-winning shots he has made in 23 seasons? It is too early to tell, but it is a moment that is both exciting and somber. The LeBron James of old is gone. We are nearing the final run of the game’s greatest face and player since Michael Jordan.

In the meantime, there is still plenty of basketball left to be played. LeBron can still contribute to the Lakers, even if it is in short bursts. But one thing is that unless James shows an incredible physical bounce back, this could very well be the King’s final run. And would it not be magic if the Lakers could go out swinging in the Conference Finals against the almighty Thunder? I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
LeBron James Los Angeles Lakers Stephen A Smith

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

Don’t miss these