Stephen A. Smith Blatantly Blames LeBron James’ Tussles with Coaches for Him Not Being the GOAT

On May 4th, the Los Angeles Lakers fired their head coach Darvin Ham after just two years of service. After the Lakers’ embarrassing loss against the Denver Nuggets second time in a row, it was expected that the management would make some major changes. Even though Ham’s firing didn’t surprise anyone, Stephen A. Smith’s recent ‘hot take’ might. According to Smith, this isn’t a good look for LeBron James, who is one of the main candidates in the GOAT debate.

On the recent episode of First Take, Stephen A. explained to Shannon Sharpe, an outspoken LeBron fan, how Ham’s firing would further damage LeBron’s chances of being hailed the GOAT. The media veteran outlined that whenever his team doesn’t do well, LBJ refuses to take any accountability for himself. Instead, he tries to look out for people and/or circumstances to blame for the failure. This is the same thing that Skip Bayless has also criticized LeBron for.

Referring to the stellar NFL career that Sharpe had, Stephen A. said, “You always talk about how formidable you are as a leader. You always talk about accountability.” According to the 53-year-old, Ham being LeBron’s 10th coach is proof that he doesn’t like to put himself on the hot seat when the times are tough. Stephen A. believes that this is one of the major differences between the Lakers superstar and his own GOAT pick, Michael Jordan.

.@stephenasmith believes having 10 different head coaches takes away from LeBron James’ case for the NBA GOAT.

“Maybe that’s the reason LeBron has four rings instead of six.” pic.twitter.com/HAOmLHAukd

— First Take (@FirstTake) May 6, 2024

Smith further stressed that Ham was only fired from the job because LeBron and Anthony Davis wanted him gone. He also used Michael Wilbon’s example, who went on the record to trash the Lakers duo for plotting against their head coach. He said, “Do you have any idea what it took for him [Wilbon] to go to national television and say what he said about those two brothers?” Stephen A. concluded his point by stating, “Maybe that’s the reason LeBron has four rings instead of six.”

The LeBron James-Darvin Ham tension that led to the latter’s firing

It’s not a singular event that pushed Ham out of the Lakers organization. In fact, this has been brewing for a while and it reached its melting point in the concluding months of this year’s campaign for the Lakers. According to several reports, the head coach came up with the idea of putting restrictions on LeBron’s minutes so he can stay fresh in the postseason. However, the Lakers superstar “bristled at the idea” and soon disregarded the plan.

Another theory behind Ham losing his job is that, LeBron already had a replacement in mind and wanted to put the plan in motion. On an episode of Gil’s Arena, Gilbert Arenas said, “[LeBron] is coaching JJ to be the coach.” Now, whatever went inside closed doors in LA will remain a secret for a while. But based on popular opinion, Ham being fired has done some damage to LeBron’s reputation.