“Original clickbait and rage baiter”: Lakers fans pick Stephen A. Smith apart for switching up on Anthony Davis after leaving LeBron James 

Anthony Davis has received high praise from Stephen A. Smith, with the latter placing AD at the top of his “top 5 NBA players to watch this season” list. Fans, however, were quick to point out the shift in Smith’s tone toward Davis.

While Davis was playing alongside LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers, Smith would often criticize him. But his stance has changed since Davis’ move to the Dallas Mavericks.

Speaking on ESPN’s First Take, Smith expressed confidence in Davis’s potential. According to him, a healthy Davis could be the key to a championship run for the Dallas Mavericks.

"If Anthony Davis, if Kyrie Irving is healthy and (AD) brings his A game, the Dallas Mavericks will win the NBA championship,” Smith said.

Trending

Lakers supporters swiftly shared graphics of Smith’s previous rants about Davis, highlighting negative comments such as “A trash performance” and “Anthony Davis, that’s trash? Zero?!”

Others chimed in, criticizing Stephen A. Smith for the same.

“I mean it’s Stephen a lol he the original clickbait and rage baiter,” @PlayoffLucro wrote.

Lucro 💫

@PlayoffLucro

@ADHDGoat I mean it’s Stephen a lol he the original clickbait and rage baiter

“This man is not allowed to do a switch up. Like we are not here for this you smack talker. No thank you 😒” @JenniFlurry commented.

“Stephen A’s downfall to be continue……” @DavidGl03128315 said.

“Letting mfs built like mega mind talk about my beautiful sport 💔💔💔” @jadisrad14 said.

“I remember when he bullshitted what he spoke with his dad about too,” @sultanwaystar wrote.

Davis averaged 25.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game during his time with the Lakers in the 2024–2025 season. He was traded before the deadline in February. After joining the Mavericks, he was limited to only nine games due to injury. Understandably, his production dipped slightly, averaging 20 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.

Anthony Davis to be without Kyrie Irving for large portion of 2025-2026 season

Kyrie Irving tore his ACL during the 2024–2025 season in a game against the Sacramento Kings on March 3. The Mavericks quickly ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign.

Reports also suggest that he could miss a significant portion of the upcoming season. While the team believes he will be sidelined until March, Irving himself revealed that he might even miss the postseason if necessary.

"Don't hold your breath on that (playing in the 2026 playoffs)," Irving said on his live stream. "It doesn't mean that I won't be back. It's just, I don't want to make any predictions on when I'm going to be back. I just want to be back 150,000% better. So I'm taking my time right now to really get healthy.”

In his absence, Anthony Davis will be tasked with leading the Mavericks both offensively and defensively. Fortunately, he will have a strong supporting cast that includes Cooper Flagg, D’Angelo Russell, P.J. Washington and others to help maintain the team’s competitiveness.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback

About the author

Advait Jajodia

Advait Jajodia is an NBA, WNBA, and tennis journalist at Sportskeeda with over four years of experience in the field with The SportsRush.

Advait has a love of basketball that stems from playing the game, and has represented Mumbai North at the Inter-District State Championship and Maharashtra at the ASISC National Games.

His favorite team is the New Orleans Pelicans, although Advait also has an affinity for the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. His favorite player of all time was Kobe Bryant, as the Lakers legend's undeniable talent and mentality were just unignorable. As for players in the current game, Stephen Curry, Zion Williamson, Victor Wembanyama, and Kyrie Irving are top of Advait's list.

When not watching or writing about sports, Advait is a fan of true crime shows, board games and console gaming.

Know More