ESPN's Stephen A Smith had to pat himself on the back after his early prediction about the Golden State Warriors winning the title came to fruition on Thursday night. It is clear, however, that Stephen A is riding his big win really hard — to the point that he's now come out to say that he has no doubt in his mind that Stephen Curry and Co. are repeating next year.

On Friday's episode of First Take, Smith passionately explained why he believes the Warriors are going to win their fifth title next season. Naturally, the ESPN broadcaster had to throw a bit of shade at LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers in what can only be described as a typically passionate monologue from Stephen A:

“I got the Warriors repeating,” Smith said (h/t Brad Sullivan of Lakers Daily) . “They are winning the NBA championship again next year. This time next year, Steph Curry will surpass LeBron James, and he will have five chips. He will tie Kobe Bryant. He will surpass Shaquille O’Neal. He’ll have more chips than Shaquille. He’ll have more chips than LeBron. He’ll have just as many as Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. The Golden State Warriors are winning the championship again next year.”

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Many consider LeBron James to be the greatest player of his generation, but surely, Steph will have something to say about this if he ends up surpassing LeBron's four rings next season. According to Stephen A, this is exactly what the Warriors are going to do in 2022-23, and there's nothing James and his Lakers — and the rest of the league, for that matter — can do about it.