Gilbert Arenas Defending LeBron James’ Ring Culture Opinion Against Stephen A. Smith Gets Approval of Fans

Stephen A. Smith caused some furor when he criticized LeBron James' opinion about the ring culture obsession in the media.

Gilbert Arenas Defending LeBron James’ Ring Culture Opinion Against Stephen A. Smith Gets Approval of Fans

Gilbert Arenas counters Stephen A. Smith's criticism of LeBron James' ring culture opinion (Image via FirstSportz)

LeBron James started a discourse criticizing national media and fans’ obsession with winning rings as a yardstick to define players’ legacies. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar pointed out that a player’s greatness has nothing to do with a team victory.

Stephen A. Smith pushed back on this logic by first pointing out that James was trying to change the narrative as he knew he could not come close to matching Michael Jordan‘s six rings. The ESPN analyst brought up the GOAT debate and suggested that players have to be compared with the best.

Many fans pointed out that this take was baseless, as if rings were the only defining statistic, the late Bill Russell would be the greatest of all time. Smith decided to listen to the opinion of former players and brought on Gilbert Arenas, Jay Williams, and Tracy McGrady onto First Take‘s Fanatics Fest special.

Of course Bron is right…. Y’all wasn’t treating (Kobe) like a three-ring player. You’re treating him like a sidekick. He was considered a sidekick. He was considered a Robin. He was considered the next Pippen. In 2002, with three rings, we were still comparing (him with) TMac.

Gilbert Arenas said

Arenas added that, as a team sport, one cannot judge a player’s greatness just by looking at their number of rings. Citing the example of Kobe Bryant, he clarified that he was merely looked like a sidekick when Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers to three straight titles.

But that cannot undermine what the late great Mamba meant to the NBA. Arenas, along with Williams and McGrady, brought up Stephen A. Smith’s criticism of Giannis Antetokounmpo to point out that front offices, teammates, and coaches are equally important to a title as is a singular player.

Fans support Gilbert Arenas’ rebuttal of Stephen A. Smith’s opinion

Basketball fans watching this segment of First Take saw how the three former players essentially eviscerate Stephen A. Smith for his biased and uninformed opinion on the ring culture. They believe it was important to point out that the analyst and other media members are responsible for creating such narratives.

Fans were happy that the three players pointed out where analysts get it wrong, considering they have never played professionally to know what transpires in the game. Some even called out ESPN to hire Tracy McGrady and Gilbert Arenas full-time instead of allowing Smith to lead discourses. Check out examples of those reactions below.

Stephen A. Smith has been receiving the short end of the stick from fans ever since he tried to bring his personal opinion into the mix to devalue LeBron James. Now every take seems biased and uninformed, and these three players have just helped to reinforce the fact that the media does not know what they are talking about.

Nick Wright brings Kevin Durant’s decision into LeBron James’ GOAT claims

FS1’s Nick Wright also kept track of LeBron James’ ring culture opinion and Stephen A. Smith’s counterargument. While speaking on his podcast, he brought up Kevin Durant‘s decision to join the Golden State Warriors as a defining part of the GOAT debate.

Nick Wright believes LeBron James' GOAT legacy is skewed because of Kevin Durant
Nick Wright believes LeBron James’ GOAT legacy is skewed because of Kevin Durant (Image via FS1/NBA/X)

Kevin Durant choosing the Warriors over the Celtics might be the reason some people think Jordan is better than LeBron.

Nick Wright said on his podcast

Wright added that LeBron James had averaged 33.8 points, 10.25 rebounds, and 10 assists per game over the 2017 and 2018 NBA Finals. Despite those unreal numbers, his Cleveland Cavaliers could not defeat the Durant-led Warriors.

Wright asks why those losses would count against James if he had done his part exemplarily. He believes that is where the ring culture obsession is skewed, and tends to favor Michael Jordan’s 6 championships vs James’ 4.

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