On Wednesday, Smith mocked the team's trade for Walker Kessler, pairing him with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves."Where the hell the Los Angeles Lakers think they are going with a bunch of White dudes?" he asked on his podcast."Your three top players are White dudes.
Really? This is basketball."He then asked, "In NBA history, when has a team led by three White dudes ever gone to the promised land? Somebody gotta say it."After facing criticism, Smith responded Thursday by declaring he "ain't backing down." He argued it's "just facts" that championship teams need "Black brothers" to help "White dudes" win.https://x.com/stephenasmith/status/2072744504650559747Consider that Smith is this worked up simply because the Lakers' top players happen to be White.Notice, too, how illogical his argument becomes.In defending himself, Smith acknowledged the greatness of Larry Bird, Dirk Nowitzki, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Steve Nash and Cooper Flagg.
If he acknowledges that White players can be just as great as Black players, then there's no logical reason three elite White players couldn't win together without "Black brothers."By Smith's own logic, it would simply mean no team has assembled the right White trio yet.But that isn't what he argued.
He claimed a team cannot win with three White stars because no team has.The distinction matters.By that reasoning, no NFL team could win a Super Bowl with a Black quarterback, Black head coach and Black general manager.Of course, that's not true.
It just hasn't happened yet.Still, if someone argued otherwise, Smith and his ilk would rage in fury.The double standard is obvious.LET'S HAVE AN HONEST CONVERSATION ABOUT CAITLIN CLARK, RACISM, AND MEDIA COWARDICE | BOBBY BURACKNEW YORK, NY - JUNE 10: Stephen A.
Smith and Christine Williamson commentates before the game between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks during Game Four of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 10, 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.NOTE TO USER: User e...