In a season of unfathomable break-ups, there was a reunion for the ages. Two former ESPN colleagues came together once again, or as they called it, “The Return Of Two GOATS: Skip Bayless & Stephen A. Smith!” And one could easily predict what was next. That’s right, some good old LeBron James thrashing. Everyday is a ‘bash LeBron James’ day for Skip. So this time, he went after the Lakers star’s shooting percentage from the deep. And no, it’s not about this season or the last one. It’s about the past 20 years of LeBron’s career. But looks like Skip had to do some serious twisting of the facts to make his case and he got caught.

On The Skip Bayless Show, the host highlighted LeBron’s drastic shooting improvement from beyond the arc and the free-throw line. “I’m watching LeBron James in year 21 and 22 shoot the ball so much better than he did for his first 20 years of his career that it haunts me, it perplexes me, it deeply frustrates me that he was such a poor shooter from three in the free throw line,” he boldly declared. Bayless backed up his claim with stats, saying, “I did the average, there were 19 years before last year in which, if you took the average from three of those 19 years, he was 31% from three.” Stunned by the numbers, he called it “pathetic,” for “the greatest scorer in the history of basketball’s,” standards. But just when Bayless thought he slam-dunked, a fan called him out publicly for lying.

“Skip Bayless just told a blatant lie on his show,” the fan wrote on X. “He stated that LeBron James, prior to years 21 & 22, shot 31% from three. LeBron James from 2004-2023 shot 34.5% from three.” Ouch, that must have hurt. Instead of doing the math, Bayless could’ve simply checked Statmuse.com, which clearly shows that LeBron James had a 34.5% three-point shooting average from the 2003 to 2023 season.

The fan then questioned whether Bayless lied for clicks. Well, that is best known to the former Fox columnist, but what the post owner also underlined was that Stephen A. Smith was also there nodding along. He had a different theory behind the improvement of LeBron’s shooting skills.

Stephen A. Smith credits Anthony Davis for LeBron James’ improved shooting numbers

LeBron James is hungry to give it everything he’s got as his hardwood days are nearing its end. The 40-year-old is on the hunt for his fifth title, and he knows exactly what lengths he has to go to get there. And let’s be real, his average stats from last season are 39.7% from three and 75.8% from the free-throw line, which is nothing short of insane. But the credit is not his, according to Stephen A.

He made two key points to back up his statement. “Number one, when you can shoot, you don’t have to work as hard to score buckets, and he didn’t mind doing that as a 6-foot-9, 250 to 260-pound juggernaut throughout his younger years. But now that he’s eclipsed age 40… It’s a lot easier when you can shoot the basketball from the outside than having to be a man amongst boys, even though he is a man amongst boys because of his physical prowess,” the ESPN veteran said. Basically, he relied on his physical dominance to score earlier, but now that’s not needed, as he’s a “man amongst boys.”

Number two, Stephen A. added, “Anthony Davis was there, and they had made a commitment that he was going to be the focal point of the offense. And so with Anthony Davis being who he is, that also encouraged LeBron James to shoot better from the outside, because if anything was going to be done on the interior, primarily, you wanted it to be Anthony Davis that was delivering those goods for you.”

Nothing can take away from AD’s contribution. He provided the force LeBron needed to drive the offense. But undeniably, the 4x champion’s skills have been so outstanding this season that his numbers are looking MVP-worthy, even without Anthony Davis. So, does Stephen A. Smith deserve a point for this analysis? What do you think about his take on LeBron’s shooting improvement? Let us know your thoughts below!