{"id":1364256,"date":"2021-05-19T17:08:26","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T21:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1364256"},"modified":"2021-05-19T17:08:27","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T21:08:27","slug":"kenny-smith-gives-lebron-james-extra-motivation-ahead-lakers-warriors-play-in-matchup-calling-stephen-curry-best-player-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/kenny-smith-gives-lebron-james-extra-motivation-ahead-lakers-warriors-play-in-matchup-calling-stephen-curry-best-player-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenny Smith Gives LeBron James Extra Motivation Ahead of the Lakers-Warriors Play-In Matchup by Calling Stephen Curry &#8216;the Best Player on the Planet'"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In a matchup nobody could have predicted at the start of the season, <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/lebron-james\/\">LeBron James<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/why-lebron-james-la-lakers-should-embrace-spot-nba-play-in-tournament\/\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> will square off with <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/stephen-curry-had-quite-the-weekend-with-the-fake-quote-nonsense-involving-lebron-james-and-joining-kobe-bryant-in-the-nba-record-books\/\">Stephen Curry<\/a> and the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in the Western Conference portion of the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/nba-playoffs-how-does-nba-play-in-tournament-work\/\">NBA play-in tournament<\/a>. Seeing as the game will air on ESPN, Kenny Smith won't get the chance to truly hype up the matchup between the two future Hall of Famers on the TNT airwaves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that didn't stop the two-time NBA champion from making his feelings known on who he believes is the better player at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-kenny-smith-chooses-stephen-curry-over-lebron-james-as-the-best-player-on-the-planet-today\">Kenny Smith chooses Stephen Curry over LeBron James as &#8216;the best player on the planet today' <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kenny is taking Steph over LeBron \ud83d\udc40 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6BKsbBScFx\">pic.twitter.com\/6BKsbBScFx<\/a><\/p>&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn\/status\/1395056558225203201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 19, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Let's just get this out of the way from the get-go. Ahead of Wednesday night's Lakers-Warriors matchup, Smith offered up quite the hot take on the superstar matchup between James and Curry by naming the latter as not only the best player in the play-in game but on the entire planet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;As great as LeBron is ... the best player on the planet today, as of right now, is Stephen Curry.&#8221;<\/p><cite>Kenny Smith on LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>That's certainly a bold take and if we're looking at just recent numbers, Smith would be right. LeBron has played just three games in May and has posted numbers below his career averages with 22.7 points, 6.7 assists, and five rebounds in those three games. Meanwhile, Curry has posted 36.8 points, 5.6 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in eight games this month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It should be noted, however, that James averaged just 27.6 minutes in those three games (well below his season average of 33.4) as he's been dealing with that right ankle injury. Curry, on the other hand, has averaged 34.5 minutes per game in May. As for the entire season, James averaged 25.0 points, 7.8 assists, and 7.7 rebounds while Curry averaged an NBA-best 32.0 points per game, 5.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it is actually really close at this point in time. But Kenny actually has a bit of history in not giving LeBron as much respect as others do.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lebron-barely-made-smith-s-all-time-top-10-list-last-year\">LeBron barely made Smith's all-time top-10 list last year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;LeBron is in my top 10 (of all-time) BUT he&#39;s No. 10... Kobe is not in my top 10.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheJetOnTNT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TheJetOnTNT<\/a> isn&#39;t putting LeBron or Kobe anywhere near the top of the all-time list. <br><br>Episode: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gq3yj65s1U\">https:\/\/t.co\/gq3yj65s1U<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GIHmXIakni\">pic.twitter.com\/GIHmXIakni<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ComplexSports\/status\/1280552687029948418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/heres-the-real-difference-in-the-nba-finals-records-of-michael-jordan-and-lebron-james\/\">The Real Difference in the NBA Finals Records of LeBron James and Michael Jordan<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During an appearance last summer on Complex Sports' <em><a href=\"https:\/\/pod.link\/load-management?utm_campaign=sportstw&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Load Management<\/a><\/em> podcast, Smith revealed a portion of the top 10 on his all-time greatest NBA players list and upset quite a few people by saying James was No. 10 on his list and even added a &#8220;possibly&#8221; in there to make matters worse for LeBron lovers. &#8220;The Jet&#8221; threw more fuel on the fire by saying Kobe Bryant didn't even make his top 10 at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for his reasoning, Smith stated that &#8220;it's so much easier to score now that it makes it hard to judge guys' ability,&#8221; which is why the picks he did offer up were old-school players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and even his <em>Inside the NBA<\/em> teammate, Shaquille O'Neal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Naturally, Smith was taken to task on social media for his statements but he's certainly entitled to his own opinions, just as he's entitled to his current opinion involving Steph and LeBron. And it's not as if this latest statement is even that insulting as James himself says Curry should be named NBA MVP for what he's done this season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-james-says-curry-should-be-named-nba-mvp\">James says Curry should be named NBA MVP<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1250\" height=\"1073\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Stephen-Curry-LeBron-James.jpg?strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"Stephen Curry and LeBron James battle during a Warriors-Lakers matchup in 2018\" class=\"wp-image-1364278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Stephen-Curry-LeBron-James.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Stephen-Curry-LeBron-James.jpg?w=300&amp;h=258 300w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Stephen-Curry-LeBron-James.jpg?w=768&amp;h=659 768w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Stephen-Curry-LeBron-James.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=879 1024w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Stephen-Curry-LeBron-James.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=1030 1200w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Stephen-Curry-LeBron-James.jpg?w=70&amp;h=60 70w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" \/><figcaption>Stephen Curry and LeBron Jams battle during a Lakers-Warriors matchup in 2018 | Ethan Miller\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/stephen-curry-responds-baron-davis-absurd-claim-we-believe-golden-state-warriors-challenging-dubs-best-nba-title-winning-squad\/\">Stephen Curry Responds to Baron Davis' Absurd Claim About the &#8216;We Believe' Warriors Challenging the Dubs' Best Title-Winning Squad<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once it was officially determined the Lakers would be squaring off with the Warriors in the play-in tournament, James, who clearly knows what it's like to play Curry in big situations, had nothing but praise for his longtime rival and says he should be <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/lebron-james-extended-remarkable-nba-record-la-lakers-win-sunday-names-his-pick-nba-mvp\/\">named this season's Most Valuable Player<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;We\u2019re playing, in my opinion, the MVP of our\u00a0league this year in Steph.<\/p><p>\u201cJust look what he\u2019s done this year.<\/p><p>\u201cEverybody counted him out this year, everybody is saying without Klay he can\u2019t lead a team on his own\u2026He\u2019s done that and more\u2026If Steph is not on Golden State\u2019s team then what are we looking at?&#8221;<\/p><cite>LeBron James on Stephen Curry<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>So there you go. It's likely that James doesn't believe Curry is actually better than he is but at least he can give the guy his props.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Stats courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Basketball Reference<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kenny Smith says Stephen Curry, not LeBron James, is &#8220;the best player on the planet today.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":1364278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4849,4828,4817,236608,4846],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kenny Smith Gives LeBron James Extra Motivation Ahead of the Lakers-Warriors Play-In Matchup by Calling Stephen Curry 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