Stephen A. Smith is well known for his controversial takes in the sports world, and he added another during Thursday’s episode of “First Take.”
While discussing LeBron James’ future with the Los Angeles Lakers and whether the organization has taken him for granted following their season-ending exit, Smith suggested there is deeper tension behind the scenes.
The Lakers have made it clear they want to re-sign James, who will become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he chooses to continue playing. However, Smith believes the relationship between the two sides — including James’ representation through Klutch Sports, led by Rich Paul — is more strained than it appears.
“They don’t particularly like him. That’s what this is about,” Smith said. “They’ll never admit that … You know that Klutch and Rich Paul and LeBron has turned them off … He is one of the greatest manipulators of narratives we’ve ever seen. There’s very few people on planet earth more skilled and committed to controlling narratives than him.”
Despite Smith’s claims, the Lakers have not given any indication that they “don’t like” James, who has been with the organization for eight seasons, made multiple postseason runs, and won an NBA championship in 2020.
In fact, general manager Rob Pelinka was very clear during his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday that if James wants to return for a 24th season, the organization would welcome him back.
“We probably haven’t seen a player that has honored the game to the extent that he’s honored the game,” Pelinka said. “He’s given so much to his teammates, to this organization. And the thing we want to do more than anything else is honor him back.”
“The first order of business there is allowing him to spend the time he needs to decide what his next steps are,” he added. “Does he want to play another year in the NBA? And that’ll be [decided through] family time, I think time with his inner circle. And we just want to honor that for him.”
“Of course, any team, including ours, would love to have LeBron James on their roster,” Pelinka said. “That’s a blessing in itself just with what he does.”