Hours After Destroying the Ringer for LeBron James’ Disrespect, Stephen A Smith Chooses MVP Across Sports Between Lakers Star and?Patrick?Mahomes

Sports analyst Stephen A. Smith, who was recently in the news for escaping the sackings at ESPN, had stark opinions about The Ringer’s Top 25 Players List. He expressed his shock at the fact that it didn’t include LeBron James in the top 5. That discussion is still raging, and Smith chose his MVP across sports including the NBA, the NHL, the NFL and the MLB.

Smith gave his opinion and talked about not just NBA and other individual players, but entire franchises as well. He even went on to justify his pick for the MVP position.

Stephen A. Smith justifies his choice for the MVP across sports

While on his show, the discussion veered to Patrick Mahome’s jaw-dropping contract worth $400 million+ with the Kansas City Chiefs. About Mahomes, he said, “Patrik Mahomes, we all know how big time he is to the NFL. But the NFL hasn’t successfully gone about its business of globalizing the brand. It is popular in America. It is popular in Europe, you know, meaning London, of course, in Germany…But at the end of the day, they are still working on globalizing the brand.”

Finally, Stephen announced his choice for the MVP across sports, none other than the star Los Angeles Lakers player, LeBron James. Stephen said this about the NBA and LeBron James, “When it comes to the NBA, NBA is going about its business of successfully globalizing the brand. And the number one face in the NBA is LeBron James. It’s not just because of his greatness. He is one of the greatest players who has played the game.”

Stephen had a great description of James. He said, “A 4-time NBA champion, a guy who has been in ten NBA finals, a guy who’s been in half of the Western Federation Finals, in his 20th year, averaging over 28 a game – but?he is a conscientious observer, some would say even an activist to some degree because of his willingness to speak out on a plethora of issues. Obviously, he is an astute, big-time?businessman, an athlete who has made that transition.”

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He signed off with the statement, “We see the Michael Jordans and the Magic Johnsons of the world. We have no reason not to expect anything less from the greatness of LeBron James as a businessman in years to come based on what we have already seen from him. Not to mention the fact that he has already made inroads in Hollywood in terms of his production company, in terms of his acting ability, and what have you. The man has done a lot. And so,?when I look at it from that perspective, and?I look at the multitude of things that he has made, I say, when you talk about the value of a professional athlete in today’s day and age, I think LeBron James stands above the crowd.”

LeBron James – the all-encompassing brand

LeBron James is one of those rare athletes who has surpassed the identity of a player. Today, LeBron is an entrepreneur, an actor and has his fingers in various pies. He also went on to become the NBA’s first billionaire, thanks to his business investments, including one in the company that owns the Red Sox, not to mention his brand partnerships with Nike. His investment in Beats by Dre caused a flurry when Apple Inc picked up the company.

James expressed his wish to own an NBA team after his retirement, ensuring that he will always remain tied to the game. With that being said, LeBron James returns to the court this season in what NBA fans feel is his last season of playing active basketball.

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What do you think about LeBron being the most valuable player across sports? Tell us in the comments!