LEBRON JAMES was overlooked for top spot as Stephen A. Smith revealed his five best duos in the NBA.
The LA Lakers star is still amongst the best players in the League.
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And he and his team were bolstered last month by the arrival of Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks.
Together James and Doncic are a force to be reckoned with – which Smith recognises.
However the ESPN host believes they are the second best pair in the NBA.
Instead he picked the Boston Celtics pair of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as his top duo.
In third place Smith picked Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard in fourth and Steph Curry and Jimmy rounding off the top five.
Smith pointed to the Celtics’ NBA Championship triumph to explain his decision.
He also evidenced the pair’s points average, with Tatum scoring 27 and Brown 23 on average this season.
But James’ omission will be striking to some, particularly given his recent altercation with Smith.
The four-time NBA champ confronted the presenter court side and the pair appeared to have a heated exchange.
Smith was sat in the first row to watch the Lakers take on the New York Knicks at Crypto.com Arena.
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Footage taken from the stands captured the moment James walked over to Smith.
The pair had an exchange, which Smith confirmed on First Take on Friday.
Smith said, “That was LeBron James coming up to me, unexpectedly, I might add, to confront me about making sure that I mind what I say about his son.
“I can’t repeat the words because they aren’t suited for airwaves.”
James was animated throughout the stand-off while Smith stood his ground.
Smith and James have had a couple of disagreements in recent times.
The ESPN star has previously claimed that Bronny James is only in the NBA because of his dad.
“I’m really, really trying to be as respectful as I possibly can be towards LeBron James, one of the top two or three players in the history of basketball,” Smith said on First Take.
“I am pleading with LeBron James as a father. Stop this.
“We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”
