With someone like Stephen A. Smith occupying the host’s chair at ESPN, one is assured good sleep will be far from his grasp this week after witnessing the Los Angeles Lakers get a nail-biting win against the Indiana Pacers off a last-second LeBron James play on Wednesday.
With the clock at zero, James tipped in a missed shot by Luka Doncic, sealing a 120-119 nail-biter for the Lakers. They halted a three-game losing streak with this win and upped their record to 44-28. LeBron was not much involved, scoring merely 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting, but the four-time MVP did effectively shut down Smith’s Florida Joots spa, scoring the most important contribution of the night.
He grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out seven assists. After the game, LeBron took the chance to troll Smith, whom he has beef with. He shared a video on Instagram showing the controversial host looking bad boxercise style. The post has since gone viral, reaching 1.3 million likes as of the time of writing.
Others who laughed along included Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson, and former ballers Isaiah Thomas and Stephen Jackson, who all dropped joy emojis in the comments. Washington Wizards center Richaun Holmes commented more loudly than others, tiresome of his laughter, “LMAOOOOOO.”
Even NFL players joined in the joke, with Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and free-agent tight end Jody Fortson Jr. all sharing joy emojis. Rams centre Steve Avila made a quick comment, writing simply, “No way!”
On “The Pat McAfee Show,” James theorized that Smith’s erratic opinions deserved from one tour stop to another, something along the lines of a “Taylor Swift tour run.” In retaliation, Smith branded James a liar and retorted the statement.
