Stephen A. Smith has found himself defending LeBron James on the GOAT list against Skip Bayless. On Friday, his former rival arrived on 'First Take', and the ESPN analyst had to sit on his show and fight for the Los Angeles Lakers star's position in the top-10 list. 

In his first appearance on the show in a decade, Bayless made a surprising claim. Revealing his list of the top 10 players of all time, he placed the Lakers star at 9th spot. Smith later shot back at his former co-host. 

“I’ve got LeBron number two all time,” Smith said in a segment of The Stephen A. Smith Show. “This mad man, known as Skip Bayless, that’s right, I’m going to call him a mad man for the purposes of this subject matter. He’s got LeBron at number 9, at number 9?”

Smith had issues with Bayless list, especially with some names who are largely not considered better than the Lakers star. 

“He’s got Magic Johnson ahead of him, he’s got Shaquille O’Neal ahead of him, he’s got Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ahead of him, he’s got Tim Duncan ahead of him, he’s got Kobe Bryant ahead of him, he’s got Larry Bird ahead of him,” he added, expressing his bewilderment with Bayless’ list.

“I’m like, come on, man, come on, man. Skip Bayless done lost his d*** mind, it’s ridiculous.”

Bayless believes that James does not have the "clutch gene" in him required to clinch games. He referred to James as a "mentally fragile superstar", drawing severe criticism from Smith.

However, that was not the only thing that Skip Bayless said during his rare appearance that was controversial. He attacked LeBron following JJ Redick’s comments. 

Skip Bayless tries to shred LeBron James after JJ Redick’s comments about officiating

The Lakers vs. Thunder Game 2 became a big controversy because of missed or bad calls from the officials. After the game, the Lakers players, including James and Austin Reaves, spoke to the referees.

During the post-game press conference, the Lakers' HC JJ Redick called out the officials and said that LeBron James “has the worst whistle of any star.”

According to Skip Bayless, it has been because the referees don’t respect him the way they used to when he was younger. 

“He has started to beg for every call...” Bayless said.

"Now he's got JJ begging for him. And here's the truth about LeBron James. We're talking about age 41, year 23, LeBron. He's lost some of the respect of the referees because he does miss quite a few bunnies at the rim that he used to convert. He does not finish the way he used to finish.”

James was livid after Game 2 loss, especially because it was a game that the Lakers could have won.

As much as the Lakers would blame the referees, they also have to blame themselves for faltering in the third quarter when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was out with foul trouble.

The Lakers will host the Thunder in Game 4.

Do you think we will see a more aggressive Lakers' performance in the series against the OKC? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Surjo Ray