Will Cain challenges Stephen A Smith on ‘racist’ claim about ‘White dudes’ in the NBA
During an appearance on Fox News’ The Will Cain Show on Tuesday, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith attempted to defend his claim that the Los Angeles Lakers cannot win a championship built on “three white men.”
Cain confronted Smith and called his remarks about the trio of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler “racist.”
“If I had come out and said that a Black quarterback couldn’t win the Super Bowl anywhere, anytime, any time, I would have been wrong and you would have said, ‘Will, that’s racism,'” Cain told Smith. “You’re not accusing me of being a racist, but you can say that statement is racist. When it comes to basketball, I can tell you the same.”
ESPN MUST HOLD STEPHEN ACCOUNTABLE AFTER DOUBLEING UP HIS RACIST STATEMENTS ABOUT WHITE BASKETBALL PLAYERS
Smith called Cain’s characterization “fair” and said he was “not offended” by the criticism. Still, he doubled down on his basic argument.
“I’ll say it again: Three white players in the NBA have never led a team to a championship,” Smith said. “Having the top three players on an NBA basketball team be White has not led an NBA team to a championship since the Minneapolis Lakers did it between 1949 and 1955.”
Cain disagreed, saying the trio of Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Cooper Flagg would be more than capable of winning the NBA championship.
He also noted that Smith’s standard was quite narrow. The Whites’ two stars, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, led the Boston Celtics to three championships in the 1980s. Smith’s claim survived only because Hall of Famer Robert Parish (black) was the team’s third-best player.
Stephen A. Smith and Will Cain on Fox News. (Will Cain Show, Fox News)
At this point, Smith’s defense does not go beyond a technical detail. Whenever he is challenged, he argues that he needs to see three White stars lead a team to a championship before he believes it is possible.
However, this is not the claim he initially made. There is a significant difference between saying that something does not happen, as Smith did at the beginning, and saying that it cannot happen.
Smith’s logic simply doesn’t hold up, as OutKick claims. If one White player can be the best player on a championship team, as Jokic can in 2023, and if two White players can keep a dynasty afloat, as Bird and McHale did, there is no logical basis for claiming that three White stars cannot win rings together. The much more plausible conclusion is that the right triad of white men does not yet exist.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 06: ESPN reporter and analyst Stephen A. Smith is seen on the set of “First Take” on February 06, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo: Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
SKIP BAYLESS DENIES STEPHEN A.’S CLAIM THAT ‘THREE WHITE MEN’ COULD NOT WIN THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP TOGETHER
First, it’s a numbers game. The NBA is roughly 75 to 80% Black, which naturally means there are fewer elite White players available.
The same logic applies elsewhere.
Just because an NFL team has never won a Super Bowl with a Black quarterback, a Black head coach and a Black general manager doesn’t mean it can’t happen. It just means that it doesn’t because of the racial makeup of these positions.
Of course, there is also the racial double standard that Cain mentioned. If a white commentator claimed that a team couldn’t win the Super Bowl because their leader was black, Smith would be one of the first to condemn the comment as racist and call for that person’s job.
Still, it’s unlikely Smith would face any backlash from ESPN even if he presented a racist argument of the same standard.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 14: Host Will Cain during an interview on “The Will Cain Show” at Fox News Channel Studios on March 14, 2025 in New York City. (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Kudos to Will Cain and Skip Bayless, two of Smith’s former sparring partners, for walking back their comments about the Lakers’ potential trio.
Is Max Kellerman next? (Just kidding.)
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Yet Smith’s argument grew weaker with each attempt to defend it. Tuesday’s interview did nothing to strengthen his claim.
His comments about the Lakers’ new trio remain unreasonable and frankly racist.
