Stephen A. isn't sold on the Lakers to the NBA Finals 👀 | First Take

TL;DR

Stephen A. Smith argues the Lakers won't reach the Finals despite Luka's historic run, citing poor bench depth and insufficient defense against OKC and San Antonio.

Key Points

• 1.Luka Dončić is on a historic scoring streak. He recorded his 11th straight 30-point game, becoming the first player to score 30 in six straight road games; Michael Jordan did it in seven straight in 1996, and Luka is shooting 50% with 40%+ from three in this stretch.
• 2.Stephen A. is not convinced the Lakers can reach the Finals. He argues they are second-worst in the league in bench production, lack defensive quality to beat both San Antonio and OKC, and that the trio of Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reeves cannot carry the team alone.
• 3.Brian Windhorst sees the Lakers' road trip as a defining moment. The Lakers won 13 of their last 15, passed nearly every test on a taxing road trip, and Luka recorded 17 steals showing improved defensive effort alongside LeBron.
• 4.Victor Wembanyama's MVP case sparked debate about defense being undervalued. Wemby posted 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 blocks against Memphis after claiming defense is 50% of the game; Draymond Green praised the comment but called it an indictment on basketball coverage.
• 5.The First Take panel largely rejected Draymond's 'indictment on the game' argument. Windhorst and Jay Williams argued MVP voters have consistently rewarded two-way players — citing Jordan, LeBron, Giannis, Duncan, and Kareem — calling it a straw man, while Stephen A. noted Draymond himself rarely highlighted defense on his own podcast.
• 6.Adam Silver pledged to fix tanking but the panel is skeptical. The lottery system has been modified five times since 1985 — including a 2019 change that equalized top-three odds at 14% each — yet the team with the worst record has not won the lottery since, and teams remain structurally incentivized to lose.
• 7.Stephen A. blamed team owners and analytics-driven front offices for perpetuating tanking. He argued some owners prefer box-office stars over championships, and that data analytics executives speak the owner's language in a way former players cannot, reducing pressure to win and enabling rebuilds-by-losing as a legitimate strategy.