Recently, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James appeared on ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show with a host of hot takes in a rare extended interview. Among James' most notable comments was his assertion that if Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo played basketball in the 1970's, he would have averaged 250 points a game.
One person not on board with those comments was ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, who took to First Take on Wednesday to relay his thoughts.
“It's still disrespectful to the previous eras… Nobody was gonna impede Kobe. Nobody was gonna impede MJ. Nobody was gonna impede [Tim] Duncan… but [LeBron James]? I believe he would've been impeded, which is why I have Jordan,” said Smith, giving his opinion on the GOAT debate between James and Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan.
Smith recently got into a publicized confrontation with James at a Lakers game, which may have given him extra motivation to take exception to the comments.
Meanwhile, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo also weighed in on the debate.
“Has he heard of Julius Erving? Giannis is not as good as Julius Erving… he's not in the same ballpark,” said Russo.
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In recent years, there has been a wave of intense backlash from players of previous generations on the current state of the NBA, which in turn has prompted several notable current stars to return the vitriol, including Anthony Edwards, and most recently, LeBron James.
Proponents of earlier eras of the game being tougher will point to the more physical brand of basketball that was played back in the 20th century as well as a tighter whistle when it came to things like traveling and other violations that players seemingly get away with today.
Meanwhile, those who say that we're currently witnessing the best era of NBA basketball point to the undeniable physical advantages that players today have over players from previous eras, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James being arguably the two best examples.
In any case, it's unlikely that the two sides will come to an agreement on this anytime soon.
