STEPHEN A. Smith has sent an apology after making controversial and inaccurate remarks during his feud with LeBron James.
The ESPN star personally attacked LeBron on First Take on Thursday.
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Smith called out James’s personal life on live television, saying that the Los Angeles Lakers icon didn’t attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial service after his tragic death in 2020.
“I suggest that he be happy with the things that I haven’t brought up,” the fiery personality Stephen A. said.
“I never brought up really and never really discussed why you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service.
“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.”
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However, LeBron is said to have appeared at the service, per a Los Angeles Times article at the time, and reportedly asked to not be shown – hence why Getty Images didn’t photograph him there.
Hours after Smith’s tirade, which lasted 15 minutes, the 57-year-old apologized for the reckless and unclassy claim regarding a sensitive topic regarding James and his noted late friend Bryant.
“My apologies and clarification. I misspoke in Hour#1 of @FirstTake today when I intimated that LeBron did not attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial,” Stephen A. wrote on X.
“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!”
LeBron has yet to respond to Smith’s rant and false remark.
The pair’s feud began when James confronted Stephen A. during a Lakers game due to his criticisms of his son, Bronny.
Lebron appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and called out Smith for making it personal about his son instead of speaking about his on-the-court play.
The four-time NBA MVP also criticized Stephen A. for using their confrontation for personal gain and claimed the ESPN star was on a “Taylor Swift tour” of discussing the incident.
Stephen A. Smith’s journey through media
STEPHEN A. Smith is now the face of ESPN and an executive producer on First Take having initially started working for the company back in 2003.
Smith has held various roles with the network, including hosting radio shows, SportsCenter contributions, and appearing on NBA Countdown.
He was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1994 to 2010.
His began as an NBA writer before becoming a general sports columnist.
Before that, Smith worked as a reporter with Winston-Salem Journal, the Greensboro News, and the New York Daily News.
“He completely missed the whole point. The whole point,” James said of Smith.
“Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport and criticize players about what they do. That is your job to criticize, or to be in a position where if a guy’s not performing, you know?
“That’s all part of the game.
“But when you take it and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players.”
After Stephen A. went on his own podcast and called LeBron a “liar” following his remarks on The Pat McAfee Show, he fired back some more on First Take.
“He continues to lie to the world about what I said and who I was pointing the figure at,” Smith said on Thursday.
“To regurgitate an obvious point, when I talked about Bronny James early in the season and I highlighted the fact that at that particular moment in time he simply was not ready, I was calling out LeBron James.”
After falsely saying that James didn’t attend Bryant’s memorial service, Stephen A. labeled the 40-year-old as “insecure” in the greatest-of-all-time debate with Michael Jordan.
“The day he came up to me was the day my new contract was announced,” Stephen A. said.
“So he knows like everybody else, it’s going to be a little while before I go away.
“I was here before he got here in 2003. And in all likelihood, I’m going to be here when he’s gone.
“You gotta deal with that, bro. Plain and simple. It ain’t a crime for Michael Jordan to be a GOAT. But clearly, it’s something that’s a crime with him.”
LeBron has continued to perform his duties as a player for the purple and gold and will likely address his clash with Stephen A. shortly.
