“Own It!”: LeBron James Finds No Escape as Stephen A. Routes Criticism on ‘Coach’ Redick to Lakers Star

Stephen A. Smith has turned his undivided attention to the Lakers superstar. LeBron James has been under heat of late for a lot of things. More particularly, the people who he has spoken for have been in the line of fire. For instance, with James putting a bullseye on his son, Bronny’s back, the young guard has unwittingly been the recipient of much hate.

Something of a similar nature has happened with Redick, too, it seems. Or that is what Stephen A. calls attention to. In his latest episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, the 56-year-old broadcaster said that the former NBA guard does not deserve all the criticism coming his way. “There’s been several coaches throughout NBA history that’s went from the booth or courtside doing color commentary into the position of being a head coach,” Smith pointed out.

He even gave some names – Doc Rivers, Mark Jackson, Steve Nash, etc. So where exactly did things go wrong? “LeBron James decided to do a podcast with him [JJ] knowing that Darvin Ham was on a hot seat.” That’s where Redick’s fate took a turn for the worse. “He’s [Ham] ultimately let go from the job and the person you [James] elected to do the podcast with isn’t the leading candidate for the head coach job. But LeBron has nothing to do with that,” Smith finished rhetorically.

When you look at it from Stephen A.’s angle, it is kind of hard to dispute. However, seeing as how Bron and his agent, Rich Paul, have said the 20x All-Star has nothing to do with the decision-making, we will have to go by that. Unfounded statements, despite coming from someone like Stephen A. Smith, still need facts to back them up. In fact, the veteran analyst hinted at that. “At the end of the day, at some point in time, you just wish LeBron James would own it.” 

Until he owns it, of which the chances are pretty low, we will simply have to take the all-time leading scorer’s word for it. But what about the coaching gig of the Lakers?

The Lakers aren’t anywhere close to getting a head coach …

NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski revealed that LA is digging deeper and conducting lengthier interviews before taking a decision. In short, he said that they were nowhere close to casting a head coach. As per Woj, three candidates are the frontrunners for this gig. JJ, James Borrego, and Chris Quinn.

In fact, Borrego had been to the organization for a second round on Wednesday. The senior analyst went as far as to say that the ex-Hornets HC was a serious candidate. “But they’re going to bring in more. I think over the next few weeks, you’re going to see more candidates come back in and dig a little deeper with the Lakers on this head coaching job.”

Although the Purple & Gold are planning to take their own sweet time in choosing the man for the job, fans and analysts are pretty sure that it’s JJ Redick who is landing the deal. Stephen A. is particularly convinced that LeBron’s “fingerprints” are all over the whole shebang. What do you guys think? Do you see what Smith sees? Let us know in the comments below!

Before you go, another matter foremost in our mind is about our beloved Inside the NBA crew. While many are sure they are going to be disbanded, Shaq’s confidante and ex-agent, Leonard Armato, thinks otherwise. To know more about his comments, watch this video.