Stephen A. Smith Debates Jordan vs. LeBron With YouTuber Day After Retiring Debate

Stephen Douglas | Mar 6, 2025

Stephen A. Smith and Kai Cenat debate LeBron versus MJ. / @FirstTak

Stephen A. Smith shocked the world on Wednesday when he declared that it was time to retire the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James G.O.A.T. debate on First Take. Smith cited LeBron's long, sustained level of greatness in the wake of his passing 50,000 point mark as the reason.

To the surprise of no one, that didn't last long. Though some may be shocked by how quickly Smith unretired the classic sports talk bit. On the very next day's show Smith discussed LeBron versus Jordan with NBA celebrity game participant Kai Cenat.

Kai Cenat is not a fan of Stephen A. Smith's LeBron James takes.

"When it comes to LeBron James, you start hating. That's how I feel. Because I feel like you're more of an older generation type of dude. You like Michael Jordan, cool... I'm here to say: LeBron's better than… pic.twitter.com/UUFZqv4V3F

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 6, 2025

Obviously, the best part of the video is when one of the production assistants popped up behind Cenat in the middle of the segment. Oops!

A behind the scenes ESPN employee pops into a shot of Kai Cenat on First Take. / Awful Announcing

Not quite as embarassing as saying you're not going to do something anymore and then immediately doing it, but pretty close. Still, this is some amazing flip-flopping from someone who continues to insist he's not a presidential candidate, but keeps going on television to talk about running for president. 2025 really is a magical time to be alive.

In case you're really bored, here's more of Cenat and Smith arguing about their own basketball abilities. It's the kind of thing that makes you wish they were still yelling about LeBron and MJ.

"Kevin Hart? You just compared me to that little leprechaun?"@KaiCenat was offended @stephenasmith said Kevin Hart is his basketball comp 😭 pic.twitter.com/j2CdHInzVs

— First Take (@FirstTake) March 6, 2025

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