40,000 Points Isn’t Adding to LeBron James’ GOAT Case as per ESPN Millionaire

ESPN anchor and renowned sportscaster Stephen A. Smith recently released a new episode of his ‘The Stephen A. Smith Show’ on YouTube. While touching base on various topics revolving around basketball, Smith took some time to discuss one of the most trending topics currently being discussed amongst NBA enthusiasts. That topic is LeBron James becoming the first player ever to cross the 40,000 points threshold.

Smith proceeded to state that LeBron has managed to establish an All-Time Scoring Record that any other current or future basketball player may never break. At the same time, however, he enunciated the same thought process as the player in stating that crossing the 40,000 points mark “does not rank at the top of the list of his career accomplishments” but “it absolutely means something”. Similarly to LeBron, Smith said that he doesn’t want to make a big deal about this recent feat. “What else has LeBron James not accomplished? He’s 39 years of age, he’s in his 21 season in the NBA, we’ve never seen anybody this good this long” said Smith during the segment. “If there’s ever justification for LeBron James being in the GOAT conversation, cause I’ll never put him above Michael Jordan, it’s that”.

The ESPN Millionaire continued to state that longevity is not a factor that he uses to determine someone’s place in the GOAT conversation, but rather a comparison on how two players performed during the most prime stage of their career and the competition that they faced. “LeBron James smoking DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors is not the same as Jordan overcoming the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons” said Smith. “LeBron James joining forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and Ray Allen and those boys in Miami is not the same as Michael Jordan going up against Magic (Johnson)”.

While the ESPN anchor continued to justify not including the Lakers star in the GOAT conversation, he did leave the topic on a positive note for LeBron by stating “Nobody, including Jordan, was this good for this long”.

Smith allegedly choose to avoid talking about LeBron James amongst his co-hosts

Just as Stephen A. Smith claimed during the interview, he was there when LeBron James recently added another chapter to the history books of the NBA. While fans got a glimpse of the 56 year old having a lively discussion with his ESPN co-hosts, they also saw him allegedly avoiding to broach up a conversation about the player’s 40,000 feat.

Instead of LeBron, Smith focused his energy in discussing Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell, including his “Ball handling skills” and “Shot making abilities”. This became noticeable by former NBA player Kendrick Perkins, who stated “But you ignored the first quarter”.

The feeling that Smith was avoiding LeBron became more apparent when the player himself approached him and the other anchors to share a greeting. While the others displayed their excitement in the brightest, Smith allegedly just put on a smile for a short period and shook the hand of the 4x NBA champion. What are your thoughts on Stephen A. Smith not deeming LeBron James worthy enough to be included in the GOAT conversation? Let us know in the comments down below.

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