"LA Lakers' is still the best franchise" - Stephen A. Smith adds fuel to fire in 'greatest franchise' debate after Celtics' title
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith shared his opinion on the debate of the greatest NBA franchise of all time. The Boston Celtics won their 18th championship on Monday by beating the Dallas Mavericks 4-1, surpassing the LA Lakers as the franchise with the most titles in league history.
Despite the Celtics taking the top spot, Smith doesn't think that makes them the best organization in the history of the NBA. Instead, he picked the Lakers for the fact that they have more finals appearances than the Celtics, meaning they've been under the spotlight for more time.
"Not so fast," Smith said. "Magic Johnson, never fear, your boy Stephen A. is here. I understand that they have 18 championships to the Lakers' 17 championships, I get that. But I also know that this is feeding off a 16-year drought.
"OK, and I would remind everybody out there that the Boston Celtics, even with the great Bill Russell, the great Bob Cousy, John Havlicek and all of these guys, Sam Jones, the list goes on and on. I will remind you that the Boston Celtics have 23 NBA Finals appearances.
"The Los Angeles Lakers have 32. So, yes, you do have one more ring. That is fair. But the Los Angeles Lakers have nine more finals appearances, which means that although they have one less title, their time spent in relevancy is significantly more than yours. That would make you the better overall franchise."
Even though these numbers show that the Celtics have been more effective in the finals, Stephen A. Smith said they also confirm that the Lakers have drawn more attention to them given their matchups in the Finals.
Before last night's game, the Celtics had spent 16 years without winning a championship. The Lakers' most recent win came in 2020 in the NBA bubble. Then again, the Celtics had the most recent finals appearance in 2022 against the Golden State Warriors.
Stephen A. Smith sent strong message about Jaylen Brown before Celtics won the Finals
Stephen A. Smith was active before, during and after the Finals. The veteran analyst was on the receiving end of criticism for his "report" on Jaylen Brown's personality. He backtracked from those comments last week, claiming that Brown is "as marketable as anybody in the NBA."
"Brilliant young man. Superstar-caliber kind of talent. Big-time talent. $300 million player. Model citizen. Doesn't get into any trouble whatsoever. He's an activist at heart. Politically conscientious. Speaks his mind. Believes in speaking truth to power," Smith said.
"And I think from what I was told, he's also a Muslim. And I bring all of that up because when we talk about marketability, you think about all of the kinds of things that should say this guy should be every bit as marketable as anybody in the NBA."
Just like he gave his flowers to Brown, Stephen A. Smith now picked the Lakers over the Celtics as the greatest NBA franchise ever.