Shannon Sharpe Defends Himself From Stephen A Smith’s ‘Lakers Ain’t Winning In 5’ Diss

Shannon Sharpe is known for many things. He’s a Hall of Fame tight end who dominated the NFL for many years. He’s a commentator, one who frequently dominated the likes of Skip Bayless in debate. He is an unapologetic homer of LeBron James. But, more than all of those, he is known for the joke he started inadvertently when listing a set of rhymes like a modern-day Dr. Seuss before launching into the punching: don’t matter, Lakers in five.

However, last night, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 22-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves to start off the playoffs. As such, Sharpe spent the morning having to sit through quite a few jokes at his expense.

One of the loudest and most inciting members of the First Take cast is the never imitated Stephen A. Smith. What the headliner lacks in real NBA knowledge, he makes up with humorous banter and loud and over-the-top reactions. Smith was so excited to poke fun at Sharpe, in fact, that he couldn’t wait until the next time they share the set and decided to tweet at him instead.

Sharpe was not so happy with the call out, but surely no one would enjoy the consequences of their own actions.

“Triple-A….NWA…..I Don’t Care what Shannon has to say = Lakers AIN’T winning in 5” tweeted Smith, with a request that someone text his message to Sharpe. Sharpe wasn’t too pleased being disturbed by the text. He shortly responded with “I’m not bothering any1 and here you go coming in mentions.” It’s a little ironic to see Smith joke at Sharpe when he himself had predicted the Lakers to win this series in five previously.

I’m not bothering any1 and here you go coming in mentions. https://t.co/HyVfZNGMdq

— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) April 20, 2025

Either way, Sharpe needs to be prepared for the fact that both he and the actual Lakers underestimated the Timberwolves before this series. After a blowout loss, a bounce-back performance may be the only way LA can avoid a disastrous end to the season.

Lakers in… More than Five?

As mentioned, the Lakers were absolutely demolished by the Wolves behind excellent performances from Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. Anthony Edwards had an understated game, including an injury scare when the explosive guard landed weirdly after a drive to the rim. Notably, the Wolves shot over 50% from three, absolutely lighting the nets on fire on route to a franchise high in three pointers made in a playoff game.

The betting odds predict a strong bounce back from the Lakers, however, with LA projected to win by around six points. That may not seem like much, but by playoff standards, that is a truly huge spread.

For the Lakers, the whole team struggled outside of Luka and LeBron. They’ll need to switch that up and do so quickly to stand a chance. If the Lakers can’t sort out their defensive woes, the Wolves might be the ones who end up taking the series in five.