Luka Doncic is on pace for one of the greatest seasons in NBA history, averaging just under 40 points per game. WNBA star Sophie Cunningham loves watching him set these records, especially when he makes Stephen A. Smith look like a clown in the process.
This week, Smith again said the Los Angeles Lakers cannot win an NBA championship led by “three White dudes”: Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler. He said they need more “brothers” to help them.
Cunningham disagrees.
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“He’s killing it,” she said on her “No Hesitation” podcast about Doncic’s historic start to the season. “He has been so much fun to watch.”
“Stephen A. was, like, ‘Why would the Lakers ever build a team around three White boys? Like, look at the NBA history. That’s never going to happen. That’s never going to be successful.’ And he (Doncic) is out there freaking killing it. I think it’s so funny.”
Also funny: In the very season Smith is belittling the idea of building around three White players, the Lakers’ trio ranks as the NBA’s best, according to ESPN’s own advanced analytics.
WILL CAIN CHALLENGES STEPHEN A SMITH ON ‘RACIST’ CLAIM ABOUT ‘WHITE DUDES’ IN THE NBA
As OutKick explained this week, Doncic, Reaves and Kessler are not the reason the Lakers have only the 10th-best championship odds. Based on their play alone, Los Angeles would be near the top. The concern is the weak supporting cast around them.
Here’s the catch: Those role players are almost entirely Black.
If Stephen A. insists on blaming the Lakers’ championship limitations on a particular race, he’s blaming the wrong one.
The truth can be uncomfortable, can’t it?
Cunningham should laugh at Smith’s statement. It’s laughable. It’s wrong. And it sounds like he’s trying far too hard to appease the people who criticize his coverage of Black athletes.
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