Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith is welcomed by the crowd during a live taping of ESPN’s “First Take” at Florida A&M University’s new Will Packer Performing Arts Amphitheater as part of the school’s homecoming festivities Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Famu Homecoming 102921 Ts 368
ESPNNBABy Sean Keeley on

In a way, it felt inevitable that either Stephen A. Smith or Skip Bayless would eventually say that the Los Angeles Lakers should trade LeBron James. It was really just a matter of which hot-take artist got there first.

ESPN’s Smith is the big winner in the spicy take sweepstakes as, on Wednesday, he explained why he thinks the Lakers, coming off a miserable season, should trade the most iconic player in the NBA.

“I think the Los Angeles Lakers should strongly consider trading LeBron James,” said Smith. “It’s what I believe. Now, a lot of people are going to lose their minds because the brother is 37, in his 19th year and he just averaged 30 and all this other stuff. If the team was better, he’d have been the league MVP candidate without question. This is not throwing a speck of shade at LeBron James in case he’s watching, which he’ll try to deny it, but he’s watching. OK, I’m telling you right now, it’s no shade at all. It’s a testament to his greatness and it’s a compliment to him.”

To be fair, Smith isn’t exactly going out on a massive limb here and he’s not the first person to put forward this idea. But the idea that the Lakers would make this move is silly, especially when it’s fairly well documented that LeBron isn’t going anywhere that LeBron doesn’t want to go. If James ever does get traded, it’s because he decided to make it happen.

LeBron has said that he does want to play with son Bronny James if and when he’s drafted in the NBA, but that’s a few years off.

In the meantime, there were plenty of spicy reactions to this spicy take around the NBA world.

Now we wait to see if LeBron, like Kevin Durant, does indeed react to SAS’s comments. If he does, Smith will have gotten exactly what he wanted.

[ESPN]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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