Stephen A. Smith is sounding the alarm on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Smith didn’t hold back Thursday morning on First Take after the Lakers dropped to below .500 with a 110–96 loss to the Miami Heat, the team’s eighth loss in its last 10 games. The blame, in Smith’s eyes, for the team’s recent woes is the play of its role players, a flaw that Smith believes will haunt the Lakers into the postseason.
“You can’t continue to play LeBron James and Anthony Davis these minutes,” Smith said. “Clearly Darvin Ham doesn’t believe he can win without one of them if not both of them on the court… They’re not going to be in any kind of situation where they can do anything as the season wanes if those imposters wearing a Lakers uniform with them [don’t] step up and do their job!”
Stephen A. Smith: "[LeBron & Anthony Davis] are not going to be in any kind of situation where they can do anything as the season wanes if those imposters wearing the Lakers uniform with them doesn't step up... they are abusing LeBron James & Anthony Davis... they stink!" pic.twitter.com/kt6eSoSGjH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 4, 2024
Smith then went on to say that the rest of the Lakers roster is “abusing” Davis and James.
“They should be ashamed of their damn selves,” Smith said. “They stink!”
Davis is playing 35.8 minutes per game so far this season, the most he has averaged since his age-24 season in New Orleans in 2017-18. Meanwhile, James is averaging 34.3 minutes per game but has played 37 or more minutes in four of his last five games, putting far more strain on the 39-year-old’s body than was anticipated coming into the season.
Smith’s criticism comes the same day that The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Jovan Buha reported on a “growing disconnect” between the Lakers locker room and Ham, tied mostly to “extreme rotation and starting lineup adjustments.
The 17–18 Lakers are in action next on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
