Stephen A. Smith’s LeBron James GOAT opinion will surely lead to debate

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Stephen A. Smith’s LeBron James GOAT opinion will surely lead to debate

Benjamin Adducchio, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, Mar 24, 2026 ·

2 min read

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Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith is never one to shy away from having an opinion. Smith is sharing that opinion about Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James . On the ESPN show First Take Tuesday, Smith said James is making a case this season that he could be the greatest NBA player of all-time.

"The greatest case for LeBron James being the G.O.A.T., in my opinion, is being made by him this year. … The Lakers are in a better position than most people anticipated," Smith said.

Smith made the comments following the Lakers loss on Monday night to the Detroit Pistons . James finished the game with 12 points in 39 minutes on the floor. He posted a double-double, as he also dished out 10 assists.

Smith framed his argument by first saying that he believes Michael Jordan is the GOAT. The commentator then went on to make his case that James at least deserves consideration for GOAT status.

"He gets to the basket. He leads the NBA in fast-break points…..he is doing whatever it takes in order for the Lakers to win basketball games," Smith added.

James is continuing to set NBA records this season . In recent days, he passed Robert Parish for the most regular-season games played in the league .

"It's not like I'm like writing things down and looking at the record book and saying: 'I'm going to get that, I'm going to get that, I'm going to get that.' It just kind of happened," James said, per the Associated Press. "It was not on the list of things that I wanted to accomplish."

Following the Pistons loss, the Lakers dropped to 46-26 on the season. Los Angeles saw its nine-game winning streak snapped.

"I think the Lakers are in a better position than most people anticipated, and that has everything to do with LeBron James," Smith added on First Take.

The Lakers next play the Indiana Pacers Wednesday.

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