ESPN star Stephen A. Smith went on a strange and racially-tinted rant about the new look of the Los Angeles Lakers.
With NBA free agency opening in recent days, the Lakers made a flurry of moves that led to them forming a new-looking core.
After the departure of LeBron James, the Lakers managed to land top free agent center Walker Kessler to feature alongside face-of-the-franchise Luka Doncic and the recently extended Austin Reaves.
These moves have both literally and figuratively changed the complexion of the Lakers’ roster – something that Smith was all-too-quick and all-too-critical to point out on his eponymous podcast.
‘I’m saying it,’ Smith said. ‘Your three best players are white dudes. This ain’t golf.
‘And we got a whole bunch of brothers on Team USA. This is basketball, what y’all think this is?’
Stephen A. Smith criticized the Los Angeles Lakers for their all-white ‘Big Three’
The Lakers recently signed big-name free agent center Walker Kessler to their roster
Kessler forms a ‘big three’ in Los Angeles with Luka Doncic (L) and Austin Reaves (R)
Smith was far from the only one to make jokes and observations of the Lakers’ new team.
Bomani Jones remarked that the Lakers ‘ain’t been this white since they left Minneapolis’ – a reference to the franchise’s former home from 1946-1961.
Jones added, ‘If Lakers-Celtics became a nationwide thing again, me and the homies wouldn’t know who to root for.’
On an episode of ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast’ released Thursday morning, The Ringer’s Chris Ryan shouted out his colleagues and their coverage of how Los Angeles GM Rob Pelinka was ‘Making The Lakers White Again.’
Other fans came up with nicknames like the ‘Snowtime Lakers’ – a play on the old ‘Showtime Lakers’ moniker – and ‘Tres Leches’ among others.
At a time where over 70 percent of the league’s players are Black – and fewer than 20 percent are white – a core of Doncic, Reaves and Kessler stands out. In addition to those three, the Lakers also signed Georgian backup center Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Other pickups by the Lakers included guards Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton.
