Stephen A. Smith Believes LeBron James Will Be Under Most Pressure This Season

By Jonathan Sherman
Updated: October 22, 2019

Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the few teams in the NBA this season that have a championship-or-bust mentality. They had that same mentality last season, but ultimately failed to even advance to the playoffs.

That fact has left LeBron James at the top of Stephen A. Smith’s list of players that have the most pressure on them to succeed in the 2019-20 season.

Smith broke down his list on a recent episode of ESPN’s “First Take.”

“You’re supposed to be the king, but the crown belongs to Kawhi Leonard,” Smith began after he listed James at the top of his list. “Oh by the way, not just Kawhi Leonard, but before that Steph Curry. You haven’t been a champion in the last several years. The king doesn’t have a crown. Now you got Anthony Davis, you gotta get it.”

Smith’s poetic plea aside, he does have some very good points. For the first time in years, very real arguments regarding whether or not James should still be considered the best player in the NBA began to pop up last season.

With players like Leonard, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo making serious arguments to be considered the greatest playing right now, James has to show that he still deserves that title if he wants to be able to claim it.

Considering the failure of last season and expectations this season, there is little doubt that the four-time MVP will have to prove that he is still able to live up to the incredible pressure he has faced for much of his storied NBA career.