Do the Los Angeles Lakers have the right genetic makeup to win an NBA title?

Such a topic would normally be considered too tacky or even racist for a sports podcast, but Stephen A. Smith embraced the controversy on Tuesday while suggesting the Lakers may be too white to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2027. Currently the light-skinned trio of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler lead the 10-2 Lakers in win shares – an advanced metric that attempts to divvy up credit for a team's success to individual players.

'I've never seen an NBA team with its top three players being white deliver a championship,' Smith, who is African American, said on his SiriusXM show. 'It's never happened, and I'm here to tell you: I don't think it's gonna happen this year.'

Smith went on to mention the injuries facing the Oklahoma City Thunder and the early season struggles of the Denver Nuggets. Then he brought the conversation back to race in basketball by explaining why he's down on the Lakers this year.

'You can bring up whoever the hell you want,' Smith said. 'There has never been in my lifetime an NBA team led with its top three players being white that delivered you a championship with an abundance of brothers playing basketball.'

Some counterexamples were offered amid the furious social media response, but Smith was born in 1967, so he wasn't considering the 1958 St. Louis Hawks and their trio of Bob Pettit, Slater Martin and Cliff Hagan. Likewise, many suggested the 1980s Boston Celtics trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge, but that omits Hall-of-Fame center Robert Parish, who is Black and was easily among the best three players on that team. 

Regardless, the bulk of the online response instead centered on whether or not Smith's comments were, indeed, racist.  

'So we're all ok with racism now I guess,' one fan wrote on X.

'Racist Stephen A Smith on display!!' another added. 'Imagine if a white guy says about black guy in the same manner.'

One X user with the handle 'MAGA Patriot' tagged ESPN to demand the network 'cut ties and fire Stephen A. Smith.'

'There's no place in Sports Journalism for the type of Racist Statement's he's made and continues to make concerning the makeup of the Lakers Roster and Starting lineup,' MAGA Patriot wrote on X.

Despite his comments, Smith insisted he was rooting for the Lakers to win a title, which he insisted would be good for the NBA, the sport and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

'It would be huge for the league,' he said on his podcast Tuesday. 'It would be huge for the Olympics. It would be huge for LA. It would be huge for everything, but it ain't gonna happen. I can't see it. Not a team with its top three players being white dudes.

'I'm sorry, I think that's controversial in some people's eyes. It ain't controversial in mine. I'm just telling you how it is. I'm calling it like I see it.'

Smith doubled down on his remarks with a caller: 'I'm just talking about logistics – I'm just talking about the actual facts.'