Renowned NBA analyst and insider Stephen A. Smith does not think the Los Angeles Lakers are giving veteran superstar LeBron James a jersey retirement ceremony.
Answering a fan question in one segment of his eponymous podcast, Smith believes that James did not do enough for the Lakers to consider retiring either his number 23 or number six jersey with them.
“I will tell you this: he doesn’t get his jersey retired in LA. It’s the Lakers. You just got one championship. One? In a COVID-shortened or COVID-interrupted season?” Smith said.
The 2019-2020 NBA season had to be tweaked due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, leading to a bubble at the Walt Disney World in Orlando to finish the year.
Only those in playoff contention before the regular season was postponed were called back to enter the bubble, including the then-top-seeded Lakers.
The Lakers eventually toppled the Miami Heat in six games to reclaim the NBA title, telling everyone they still rule Hollywood even if the Clippers have already caught up to them.
However, some critics and bashers would still downplay the Lakers’ bubble championship considering that it was a condensed season like LeBron James’ first title in the lockout-shortened 2011-2012 season with the Heat, and Stephen A. Smith is one of them.
“I don’t think you get your jersey retired because of that. LeBron is LeBron. He’s big-time and became the all-time leading scorer in NBA history wearing a Lakers uniform. You could make a case that he’s a champion in a Lakers uniform, but when you consider the greatness of the Los Angeles Lakers… you could retire LeBron James’ jersey. I can’t rule it out, but if you didn’t retire his jersey in Los Angeles, I don’t think anybody would sneeze at that,” Smith further explained, adding that the Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers must retire his jersey.
The Akron, Ohio native only won one championship in his hometown, but it was the franchise’s first title and they became the first team to climb back from 1-3 down to win the NBA pennant against the Golden State Warriors, led by another Akron kid, Steph Curry.
LeBron James, Steph Curry share victory hug
The two kids from the Metropolitan Cleveland area shared a viral moment after Team USA’s come-from-behind Paris Olympics semifinal win against Serbia on Thursday night at the Accor Arena.
Right after Team USA fought back from 17 points down to beat Serbia, led by reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and streak-shooting Bogdan Bogdanovic, James and Curry, who, along with Kevin Durant, took over late to seal the comeback win, hugged each other in celebration.
For Cav fans, it could be a cause for wishful thinking for an alternate universe where both James and Curry play for their hometown team.
For Laker and Warrior fans, it could be time for a temporary truce after some verbal slandering in support of their teams’ main players.
However, come December 25, the verbal tussle could return, as according to Shams Charania, the Lakers and Warriors will face off in one of the five scheduled NBA games for Christmas night.
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