Kenny Smith Gives LeBron James Extra Motivation Ahead of the Lakers-Warriors Play-In Matchup by Calling Stephen Curry ‘the Best Player on the Planet’
In a matchup nobody could have predicted at the start of the season, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will square off with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in the Western Conference portion of the NBA play-in tournament. Seeing as the game will air on ESPN, Kenny Smith wonāt get the chance to truly hype up the matchup between the two future Hall of Famers on the TNT airwaves.
But that didnāt stop the two-time NBA champion from making his feelings known on who he believes is the better player at the moment.
Kenny Smith chooses Stephen Curry over LeBron James as āthe best player on the planet todayā
Letās just get this out of the way from the get-go. Ahead of Wednesday nightās Lakers-Warriors matchup, Smith offered up quite the hot take on the superstar matchup between James and Curry by naming the latter as not only the best player in the play-in game but on the entire planet.
āAs great as LeBron is ā¦ the best player on the planet today, as of right now, is Stephen Curry.ā
Kenny Smith on LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry
Thatās certainly a bold take and if weāre looking at just recent numbers, Smith would be right. LeBron has played just three games in May and has posted numbers below his career averages with 22.7 points, 6.7 assists, and five rebounds in those three games. Meanwhile, Curry has posted 36.8 points, 5.6 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in eight games this month.
It should be noted, however, that James averaged just 27.6 minutes in those three games (well below his season average of 33.4) as heās been dealing with that right ankle injury. Curry, on the other hand, has averaged 34.5 minutes per game in May. As for the entire season, James averaged 25.0 points, 7.8 assists, and 7.7 rebounds while Curry averaged an NBA-best 32.0 points per game, 5.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds.
So it is actually really close at this point in time. But Kenny actually has a bit of history in not giving LeBron as much respect as others do.
LeBron barely made Smithās all-time top-10 list last year
During an appearance last summer on Complex Sportsā Load Management podcast, Smith revealed a portion of the top 10 on his all-time greatest NBA players list and upset quite a few people by saying James was No. 10 on his list and even added a āpossiblyā in there to make matters worse for LeBron lovers. āThe Jetā threw more fuel on the fire by saying Kobe Bryant didnāt even make his top 10 at all.
As for his reasoning, Smith stated that āitās so much easier to score now that it makes it hard to judge guysā ability,ā which is why the picks he did offer up were old-school players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and even his Inside the NBA teammate, Shaquille OāNeal.
Naturally, Smith was taken to task on social media for his statements but heās certainly entitled to his own opinions, just as heās entitled to his current opinion involving Steph and LeBron. And itās not as if this latest statement is even that insulting as James himself says Curry should be named NBA MVP for what heās done this season.
James says Curry should be named NBA MVP
Once it was officially determined the Lakers would be squaring off with the Warriors in the play-in tournament, James, who clearly knows what itās like to play Curry in big situations, had nothing but praise for his longtime rival and says he should be named this seasonās Most Valuable Player.
āWeāre playing, in my opinion, the MVP of ourĀ league this year in Steph.
āJust look what heās done this year.
āEverybody counted him out this year, everybody is saying without Klay he canāt lead a team on his ownā¦Heās done that and moreā¦If Steph is not on Golden Stateās team then what are we looking at?ā
LeBron James on Stephen Curry
So there you go. Itās likely that James doesnāt believe Curry is actually better than he is but at least he can give the guy his props.
Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference