Stephen A. Smith apologizes for false accusation about Kobe Bryant memorial service

After accusing LeBron James of lying, Stephen A. Smith fostered a lie himself by claiming the NBA superstar didn’t attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial service.

During his uninterrupted 15-minute rant to open First Take Thursday morning, responding to James’ comments on The Pat McAfee Show, Smith bizarrely accused the four-time NBA MVP of being absent from Bryant’s memorial service following his death in 2020.

Stephen A. Smith on LeBron James: “I suggest that he be happy with the things that I haven’t brought up. 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… pic.twitter.com/Wji02Zidej

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 27, 2025

“I suggest that he be happy with the things that I haven’t brought up,” Smith said of James. “I never brought up really and never really discussed why you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service.”

But James was at Bryant’s memorial service, which Smith later clarified on First Take while also claiming there was a specific reason he wasn’t showed at it. Regardless of what that reason was, accusing James of not attending the service was a significant mistake. Even if James wasn’t there, it was a bizarre attempt at a “gotcha” moment by Smith. And it’s one he apologized for in a social media post nearly five hours after making the false accusation.

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…

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) March 27, 2025

“My apologies and clarification. I misspoke in Hour#1 of First Take today when I intimated that LeBron did not attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial,” Smith wrote. “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 didn’t just “intimate” LeBron didn’t attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial. He said, “you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service.”

What began as a bizarre incident with James confronting Smith during a Los Angeles Lakers game at Crypto.com Arena last month, has continued to grow more embarrassing for both parties. After Smith spent nearly an entire month incessantly addressing the incident, James went low during his rebuttal on The Pat McAfee Show Wednesday afternoon. And Thursday morning, Smith went lower, culminated by dragging Kobe Bryant’s name into the feud with a false accusation.