Stephen A. Smith Predicts Lakers Will Fire Luke Walton, Hire Phil Jackson

Stephen A. Smith is back at it, making ridiculous predictions and proclamations that have absolutely no basis in fact. On Thursday, he dropped the following doozy on ESPN’s “First Take”:

Smith is really going for it here. He claiming the Lakers are going to dump Luke Walton in favor of Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson!

Yes, Phil Jackson — a 72-year-old who could barely get through an entire season as a coach physically eight years ago — is going to get a call from his ex-fiance Jeanie Buss to coach the Lakers again. The man whose dedication to the triangle offense set the New York Knicks back at least five years and pissed off everyone in the tri-state area in the process. That Phil Jackson is going to show up in LA and be the savior.

Folks, the NBA’s offseason has officially jumped the shark. Pack it up, let’s go home.

The Lakers aren’t firing Luke Walton. People are flipping out because he didn’t talk to LeBron James before he went off the Europe. Forgive me for not caring. There’s plenty of time for them to talk. I’m assuming they both have smart phones and can text.

If James didn’t like Walton or wanted to play for his own guy, he wouldn’t have signed with the Lakers. From Day 1 everyone has been expecting LeBron to basically take over the franchise, make his own moves, bring in his friends, oust LA’s young core, etc. None of that has happened.

While James will certainly have input on the team’s moves, Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss are in charge. Oh, and those three people? They all really like Walton.

Phil Jackson is retired. Physically, there is no way he could take the grind of an 82-game season as a head coach. He ain’t coming back to the Lakers or anywhere else.