Lakers News: Stephen A Smith Attacks LA Superstar's "Rollercoaster" Play

This just seems like an unnecessary talking point.

Your Los Angeles Lakers are heading to the NBA In-Season Tournament title game today after easily dispatching the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, by a score of 133-89. It was a blowout for LA after the first quarter and will now meet up with the Indiana Pacers in a championship match.

LA has been very determined to win this tournament since it started, and they have gone undefeated so far through it all. 

But even after such a dominant victory, there was blame being thrown toward one of the Lakers star players.

NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith criticized the play from big man Anthony Davis, calling him a roller coaster. Davis finished the game with 16 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks to help lead the team to the win.

"You got to show up on a night in night out basis. You can't be a roller coaster." 👀

Stephen A. Smith on AD pic.twitter.com/8Jck0HnNiH

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 8, 2023

While Davis didn’t put up points, he made his presence felt elsewhere. Davis has been attacked all season long for him not scoring as much as he should at times, and sometimes it is justified.

But this wasn’t one of those times, as he did everything else that impacted winning and the Lakers won by 44 points. So the criticism was pointless for this game, and Davis was just being used as a talking point for Smith.

Yes, Davis does need to be more consistent at times, but he impacts the game in multiple ways. He was a big reason why the Lakers took down New Orleans, and they will need him to step up again against the Pacers.

It would be a special accomplishment for this historic franchise to win the first-ever In-Season Tournament, but they do have a challenge ahead of themselves.

Indiana will be a tough test for the Lakers and they can’t overlook them whatsoever. But hopefully, when the clock strikes zero, LA will be the last team left standing.

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