The Los Angeles Lakers are on life support, and it looks like a wasted season again for LeBron James. One of the ways to salvage his year (and the Lakers’ future), at least according to some NBA pundits, is to deal “The Chosen One” to Golden State. There, he could join forces with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, benefitting from the Warriors’ deep rotation so he could theoretically pick his spots and take over games when needed.
As incredible as that sounds, Stephen A. Smith isn’t having any of it. The ESPN analyst shared his two cents about this hypothetical scenario and why he would want “The King” to stay in Tinseltown.
“As a fan, visually speaking, LeBron and Steph Curry would be special. I have no doubt about that,” SAS said on First Take. “I don’t want to see it because LeBron James does not deserve it. LeBron James does not deserve to be with Steph Curry! Here’s why: Stay your a** right there in LA. You won a championship in the Bubble. I understand you lost next year in the first round. You had a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, you had a Kyle Kuzma, you had a Montrezl Harrell, you had an Alex Caruso. What do you do? You let those cats go away.”
‘LeBron derailed the Lakers’
From Stephen A’s point of view, the Purple and Gold had to execute win-now moves to appease The King. They got rid of the mentioned pieces to bring in Russell Westbrook, who they thought could help LBJ carry the load. The problem was that the team’s depth was gutted to the core, sacrificing its depth.
“A lot of the mobility that the Lakers could have exercised if you had some of those pieces is something that derailed this franchise,” SAS added. “We got so caught of the greatness of LeBron James, the individual player. He’s on the Mt. Rushmore all-time, I get it; there’s no shade there. We don’t pay enough attention to the power of his influence and the moves that he compels to make. That serves to derail a franchise like he did in Los Angeles.”
“Nah, you can’t get to leave that and go to Golden State. Stay yo’ a** right there in Southern California with Anthony Davis, and figure it out. That’s my position,” concluded Smith.
Messy trail
As ridiculous as Stephen A’s takes sometimes, this is a rare W for him. Bron does leave a trail of bodies in his wake whenever he takes his talents to a new team.
When he signed with the Heat in 2010, Miami had to send out two first-round picks and two second-round picks for the Cavs. Then, after returning to Cleveland in 2016, the team had to trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love, a classic win-now move to accommodate the four-time MVP. Lastly, it took only one year of Southern California stay before the Lakers decided to pull the trigger on the Anthony Davis trade by dealing away Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and Lonzo Ball, along with two first-round picks and a pick swap.
That’s the cost and curse of bringing in LeBron. So far, the Lakers have one championship to show for it, but the rest of his stay was mildly disappointing. They missed the playoffs two times (2019 and 2022), were ousted in the first round twice (2021 and 2024), and had one Conference Finals to boot (2023).
If Bron gets to leave for greener pastures, Los Angeles draws the short end of the stick, at least for the meantime. But as SAS implied, letting the four-time MVP off the hook so he could chase another ring is a free pass he hasn’t earned, given that his influence on team decisions landed the Lakers in this mess to begin with.
