Stephen A Smith spent months firing shots at LeBron James, but the Lakers’ star’s latest masterclass is forcing him to rethink everything

Stephen A. Smith has at last given in to LeBron James’ antics and started to see his actual productivity. For most of James’ career, his comparison with Michael Jordan seemed to be an issue for Smith, who kept on emphasizing that Michael Jordan was superior. The TV personality has kept reiterating that, to an extent, his words seemed disrespectful to LeBron, but now the tide seems to be shifting.​

According to The Spun, Stephen A. Smith, after watching LeBron’s game against the Rockets, commented that the athlete is one of the league’s best. He said that LeBron has been a legit face of the Lakers all these years, even before Doncic arrived. Stephen even declared that winning four NBA rings is no piece of cake and praised LeBron for his leadership of the Lakers franchise.​

In a statement, he said, “This is one of the guys on the Mount Rushmore of basketball, one of the top 5, 4 players in the history of basketball. Okay, who is a 4-time champion and a 4-time league MVP and was clearly the star of the Los Angeles Lakers all of these years that he has been there until Luka Doncic arrived last season. And all he does is go out there and not just play deferentially to Luka Doncic, he also does so to Austin Reaves.”

Winning over Stephen A. Smith may be one of LeBron’s greatest achievements

LeBron James has set many records in the league, but Stephen finally acknowledging them could be one of the greatest achievements. Stephen A. Smith has been the most prominent critic of LeBron of all time, and even went on to his NBA rings several times, declaring that LeBron did not win them the way he should have. The criticism was actually quite prickly for someone like LeBron, who was breaking records left and right.

The media personality has taken shots at the four-time champion’s attire and blamed him for causing a star-power drought in competitions like the Slam Dunk. LeBron hasn’t replied to any of this criticism. But recently, he showed support to Zion and asked him not to take Smith seriously when he made sharp comments on his weight.​

Returning to his current statement, it looks like Stephen A. Smith has started to change his view of LeBron and has accepted him as one of the top five players of all time. But who knows, he might one day accept him as the direct competitor to Michael Jordan in the NBA. It remains to be seen whether Smith sticks to his word or changes his stance again.