The Los Angeles Lakers are undergoing a franchise revamp, with LeBron James deciding to take his talents elsewhere to close out his incredible NBA career. And Stephen A. Smith isn’t shying away from the one common denominator surrounding the new core trio in the City of Angels.
It’s a bunch of white guys.
After re-signing Austin Reaves to a max extension to secure his services for the long-term, the Lakers acquired center Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz for several draft picks. Kessler and Reaves will now join Luka Dončić as the new Big 3 for one of the NBA’s most prominent franchises.
Whether or not the new-look trio is able to compete in an incredibly tough Western Conference against the likes of the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder remains to be seen, but it’s going to be an uphill battle. But it’s not just because of how they compare to the rest of the league, according to Stephen A. Smith; it’s the reality of their ethnicity.
On The Stephen A. Smith Show, the First Take host went there in saying that Lakers GM Rob Pelinka was turning the Lakers into “White Dude Central” and that this was basketball, not golf.
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
“Where the hell do the Los Angeles Lakers think they’re going with a bunch of white dudes. Your three top players are white dudes? Really? This ain’t golf. This ain’t baseball. Hell, it ain’t even soccer. What you all think this is? Basketball,” Smith said. “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. Somebody got to say it so I’m saying it.”
If we want to get technical, when the St. Louis Hawks won the NBA championship in 1958, their three All-NBA honorees in Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, and Slater Martin were all white dudes. Granted, that was almost 70 years ago, but still, it did happen once upon a time!
While Smith tried to temper his take by complimenting each of the Lakers stars individually, he views their collective potential as incredibly limited.
“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 happening. And Luka’s a bad brother. And Austin Reaves is no scrub. And they both have earned what they have earned. And then with LeBron James or some other brothers, I get. But those two and Walker Kessler? You ain’t scaring anybody with that. And Rob Pelinka has done made this white dude central. No wonder LeBron James walked out the door,” Smith added.
While this take is likely going to get a lot of people riled up, from a purely basketball sense, it looks like it’s going to be tough for the Lakers to compete for a championship with the roster constructed the way it is now. Maybe that was true while LeBron James was there, too, for the last several years. But aside from the possibility of making a real life version of White Men Can’t Jump, one of the most glamorous franchises in sports a lot less interesting.
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