LeBron James scored 34 points last night as he became the first player in history to cross the 50,000 career points mark. As James continues to play at this level this deep into his career, there's really no choice but to watch in amazement.
Luka Doncic half-jokingly suggested LeBron could reach 70,000 points, but the most shocking reaction to James's latest milestone came from Stephen A. Smith on First Take Wednesday morning. A week after Smith took multiple shots at James for complaining about the negativity players faced from the media, the ESPN host took positivity to a surprising place.
🚨🚨Stephen A. Smith says it's time to retire the Jordan-LeBron debate 🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/0RyJtli7Mh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 5, 2025
"He's been absolutely phenomenal," said Smith. "I'm going to sit up here today... although he annoyed the living hell out of me last week with all of that nonsense he was talking. In the end, the greatness that he has put on display. For as long as he has put on display. I'll even go a step further. Knowing how I feel about Jordan. And I think anybody that knows basketball agrees with me. I actually think it's time to not even have the debate anymore. Because that's how great LeBron James has been. For as long as he has been that great. I can stand down and acknowledge that because this is absolutely phenomenal. But it's not the 50,000 points. It's not even the way he looked last night. It's not even the way he's looked this month. It's the fact that I'm watching this brother with Anthony Davis, without Anthony Davis. With Luka, without Luka. I mean this dude right here—and I'm looking a guy at 40 years of age whose in better shape than 98% of the league. If not more. At age 40 in his 22nd season. LeBron James, especially on a morning like this, deserves all the props in the world and I'm gonna give it to him."
Who knows how long this positivity will last, but for now it seems that LeBron finally has everything he wants. We'll just have to wait and see if the LeBron versus Jordan debate can remain retired—at least until LeBron does.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stephen A. Smith Ready to Retire Michael Jordan-LeBron James Debate.
