Smith hasn’t made many public appearances since he slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars, minutes before receiving the “Best Actor” Oscar for his role as Richard Williams in “King Richard.” But he’s begun making the rounds promoting his new film “Emancipation,” which premieres in December.

It makes sense that Smith would visit the Lakers. He’s played star athlete Muhammed Ali, arguably the LeBron James of boxing. 

Smith is willing to fight to defend his family honor over a joke, which is similar to how Russell Westbrook vowed to push back when fans called him “Westbrick” last year, pledging “I can no longer allow people to besmirch my name.” 

New Lakers coach Darvin Ham has preached a team-wide focus on defense, something Rock could have used at the Oscars. And Smith has teamed up with his son Jaden in movies (with mixed results), just like LeBron wants to play his final season with his own son. 

LeBron’s L.A. homes are in Beverly Hills and Brentwood, however, not Bel Air.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka started the “Genius Series” in the 2017-18 season, bringing in speakers ranging from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, to Tesla’s Elon Musk, to Olympic sprint champion Allyson Felix, to Oscar winner and Lakers superfan Denzel Washington. 

After going on hiatus during the pandemic, the Lakers restarted the series with a visit from rapper Nas last year.

Will the visit from Smith motivate the 0-3 Lakers? Will they continue to maintain their Focus on defense? Can they compete for a playoff spot in the wild, wild Western Conference? 

Is this roster six degrees of separation away from contention? Will a Russell Westbrook go off without a hitch, which fans might celebrate as their Independence Day? 

All they can hope for is that this team will be bad boys – and not just a bad team – for life.