ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Says Post-LeBron Lakers Can't Win Because of Race: 'Three Top Players Are White Dudes?'
Veteran sports journalist and ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith took an old and largely humorous trope to a new level.
In a clip from his podcast, “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” posted Wednesday to the social media platform X, Smith declared that in the wake of longtime star LeBron James’ impending departure from the team, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers have a colorful problem that will keep them from winning a championship.
“Your three top players are white dudes? Really?” Smith asked in exaggerated disbelief.
Superstar guard Luka Doncic and backcourt mate Austin Reaves, both white, remain as holdovers from the 2025-26 Lakers.
On Wednesday, according to ESPN, Los Angeles acquired Utah Jazz fourth-year center Walker Kessler, also white, for future draft compensation.
The Kessler acquisition came one day after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that James informed the Lakers of his plans to play elsewhere in 2026-27, his record 24th season in the league.
Smith, whether half joking or fully serious, expressed skepticism about Los Angeles’ basketball future.
“Where the hell the Los Angeles Lakers think they’re going with a bunch of white dudes?” Smith asked. “Your three top players are white dudes? Really? This ain’t golf! This ain’t baseball! Hell, it ain’t even soccer! What do y’all think this is? This is basketball!”
The veteran commentator then insisted that experience proves the Lakers’ folly.
“In NBA history, when have you seen your three most prominent players on a basketball team all be white, and that takes you to the Promised Land?” Smith added. “Somebody got to say it, so I’m saying it! This is basketball. I’m not complaining. I’m simply making the point. The Los Angeles Lakers, you ain’t going anywhere, being led by three white dudes in today’s generation of basketball! I’m letting you know right now, it ain’t happenin’.”
Smith even gave these specific white players their due — at least two of them.
“And Luka’s a bad brother,” he continued, “and Austin Reaves is no scrub, and they both have earned what they have earned, and them with LeBron James or some other brothers, I get. But those two and Walker Kessler? You ain’t scaring anybody with that.”
Smith concluded by calling the Lakers “White Dude Central.”
“No wonder LeBron James walked out the door,” he said.
3 WHITE DUDES?! The Lakers Really Think THIS Can Win a Championship?
👇 Watch the full episode. Link in the comments. pic.twitter.com/jTQ2vrDV7C
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 1, 2026
Meanwhile, many X users complained about what they saw as a “racist double standard.”
Shows America’s great racist double standard
Any white espn guy goes on his show and says “3 black dudes?? This is hockey!! Not basketball”
Instantly fired
— Sin City Sports Hub (@SinCitySportHub) July 1, 2026
imagine if a white man said “3 BLACK DUDES!?”
— osc (@oscgalla) July 1, 2026
Imagine an NHL analyst saying the same exact thing about a team whose best three players were “black dudes”… his career being over in disgrace would be the least of his problems… but a black man can get on TV and spew racism like this with impunity
— Adino HaEtzni (@Sammoz36) July 1, 2026
The 1985-86 Boston Celtics won the NBA title with legends Larry Bird and Kevin McHale as their top two players. Smith, however, did specify three.
Of course, anyone who grew up around basketball recognizes the “white guys can’t play” running joke. Actors Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson even starred in a blockbuster 1992 comedy called “White Men Can’t Jump.”
With James as their third-leading scorer behind Doncic and Reaves, the 2025-26 Lakers made the playoffs and defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round before getting swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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