ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith took a little bit of a shot at Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James after he came up short in the final moments against the Detroit Pistons on Monday night.
With the Lakers trailing Detroit by three points in the closing seconds, James missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game and sent it to overtime.
LeBron misses the 3 with a chance to force OT
Lakers fall short to the Pistons. pic.twitter.com/Gq922BGTKV
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 24, 2024
On ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday, Smith claimed that Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan would have made the shot that James missed against the Pistons.
"My man MJ would have hit that shot." 😅 @stephenasmith and @ShannonSharpe on LeBron James' final shot in the Lakers' 117-114 loss to the Pistons on Monday. pic.twitter.com/cIy0sVzhUv
— First Take (@FirstTake) December 24, 2024
While Smith’s comments did come with a laugh, it’s impossible to know if Jordan would have knocked down the 3 to tie the game. The Hall of Famer was a remarkably clutch player, but he also shot just 32.7 percent from beyond the arc in his storied NBA career.
James, despite the miss in the final seconds, had a massive game for the Lakers on Monday. The 20-time All-Star, who will turn 40 years old later this month, finished Monday’s loss with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field (2-for-4 from 3), 11 rebounds and 11 assists. It marked his eighth triple-double of the season.
Even though he came up short against Detroit, James is having an incredible season for a player at his age. He’s averaging 23.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game while shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The Lakers are 16-13 through their first 29 games, and they currently hold the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.
James and Jordan have been compared a ton over the years, mainly because they are widely considered to be the two greatest basketball players of all time.
A four-time league MVP, James is looking to add to his resume this season by leading the Lakers to another title, which would be his fifth in the NBA. But it won’t be easy, as Los Angeles has failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs in all but one season since winning the title in the 2019-20 campaign.
James and the Lakers will be back in action on Christmas Day against the Golden State Warriors.
