Lakers: Two-Time LA Champion Puts Stephen A. Smith on Blast for All-Time List
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Whenever a superstar wins another championship, it instantly becomes time to discuss where that player now stands on everyone's all-time rankings. Right now, that conversation is centered around Warriors guard Steph Curry. Expert and analysts alike are parsing through where his fourth title places him among the greats, sometimes at the expense of longtime Lakers.
Mychal Thompson, father of Klay Thompson and a two-time champion with the Lakers (1987 & 1988), took offense to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith removing Wilt Chamberlain from his all-time top-ten in favor of Steph.
On Saturday, the elder Thompson, who works for ESPN Radio and also serves as the Lakers radio analyst, went right at Stephen A. Smith on Twitter.
Thompson's take isn't all that surprising due to his age and franchise allegiances. It's not a coincidence that the 67-year-old former Laker insists that Chamberlain is included automatically on any top-ten list, but Wilt the Stilt's foil, Celtics center Bill Russell, doesn't merit consideration.
This isn't the first all-time NBA list debate involving Warriors guard Steph Curry and a Lakers legend. In his post-Game-6 podcast, The Ringer's Bill Simmons suggested that Curry could pass Kobe Bryant on his personal all-time list if Curry wins a fifth championship.
"I personally just like the stuff, if I'm talking all-time, wine bottle, all that stuff, I just like the stuff Steph brings to the table more than the Kobe piece. But, you know, Kobe, back-to-back Finals MVPs, he won five titles. Steph has four, Kobe is in play. He's going to pass Kobe with one more. "
If Curry keeps winning championships, Lakers fans, and former Lakers players, are going to have to keep defending some of their franchise's most successful players in endless legacy debates.
Whether it's Shaq, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, Magic, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and last, but not least, Wilt Chamberlain.
