Stephen A. Smith, 57, has officially offered an apology for dragging Kobe Bryant’s name into his back-and-forth with LeBron James.
The former Los Angeles Lakers player and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, tragically passed away along with seven others in a 2020 helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
But that has nothing to do with James and Smith’s ongoing feud, which kicked into overdrive when the ESPN commentator suggested LeBron’s son, NBA rookie Bronny James, only made it into the league because of his connection to his All-Star father.
Bryant’s name was more recently brought into the discussion after when Smith implied James disrespected the Black Mamba following his passing in 2020.
LeBron accused Smith of using their rivalry as a “Taylor Swift tour run” during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” for continuing to speak about their on-the-court clash in interviews and on “First Take.”
After hinting that he would fight LeBron, Smith used a segment on March 27 to declare he will never recognize LeBron as the GOAT, calling the NBA champion “petty” for posting to Instagram an old clip of him sparring.
He claimed he never spoke about Bronny and his legitimacy as a NBA player before the Jan. 29 taping.
Smith went further to call out LeBron for “not having any friends” as well as skipping Bryant’s memorial service and the Hall of Fame induction of his former Miami Heat teammate, Dwyane Wade.
“I never brought up or really discussed why you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service,” Smith claimed. “I never really brought up or discussed why you did not attend Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame induction when that man was directly responsible for you capturing a championship for the first time in your career.”
Part of Smith’s clapback failed to land with many sports fans on X who pointed out that James was not missing during the public funeral for Bryant on Feb. 24, 2020.
According to a February 2020-dated Entertainment Tonight article, James was among the 20,000 guests inside the Staples Center for the “Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant” service.
Reposted footage of retired WNBA player Diana Taurasi at Bryant’s service cracking a joke on LeBron’s fadeaway jump shot and seemingly acknowledging the Akron, Ohio, native seated in the crowd.
While standing at the podium, she said, “The same passion we all recognized in Kobe, obviously, Gigi inherited. Her skill was undeniable at an early age. I mean, who has a turn-away fade-away jumper at 11? LeBron barely got it today.”
“Yeah, Diana Taurasi wasn’t looking at LeBron here…,” one person wrote on X, while someone else tweeted, “What a clown show… LeBron was obviously there lol.”
Another person cited an article from the Los Angeles Times as proof the James was in attendance alongside other notable Lakers stars such as Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and Rick Fox.
Another Smith critic added, “He went on his podcast last night and said, ‘I don’t lie to y’all’ – immediately woke up the next morning and went on national TV to tell multiple lies,” a critic of Smith posted.
A third tweeter simply said, “All Stephen A. does is lie.” Smith did have defenders on the app such as a tweet that read, “Y’all realize there was a private ceremony before this.”
The family of Kobe and Gianna held a private funeral on Feb. 7. They were buried at the Pacific View Memorial Park cemetery located in Orange County, California.
After seeing the swarm of LeBron fans running to his defense, Smith apologized for his false statement on X.
“My apologies and clarification. I misspoke in Hour#1 of@FirstTake today when I intimated that LeBron did not attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial. I corrected myself in Hour#2 when I acknowledged he was indeed in attendance. My mistake. Should not have even broached that subject. It was not my main point. I retract NOTHING else that I said. Have a nice day!”
Smith was accurate about James not being at Wade’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony in August 2023 after LeBron and Dwyane won two NBA titles together in 2012 and 2013 as part of the Heat’s Big 3 with Chris Bosh.
LeBron’s absence at Wade’s HOF ceremony was also called into question by Smith’s former ESPN broadcast partner, Skip Bayless. Bayless and Smith worked together as a groundbreaking debate duo on “First Take” from 2012 to 2016.
