Stephen A. Smith apologizes for insinuating Nolan Richardson is dead: ‘I know he’s alive’

After insinuating Nolan Richardson is dead, Stephen A. Smith clarified that he knows the Hall-of-Fame basketball coach is alive.

In the wake of Arkansas collapsing against Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 Thursday night, ESPN’s First Take asked whether John Calipari deserves more credit or criticism for his first season and NCAA Tournament with the Razorbacks. And while discussing Calipari, Stephen A. Smith appeared to have a gaffe about former Arkansas men’s basketball coach Nolan Richardson.

“He’s gonna be able to recruit better than anybody ever has there outside of Mr. 40 Minutes of Hell himself, the late great Nolan Richardson. God rest his soul,” Smith said, seemingly implying the 83-year-old Richardson is dead.

Richardson, however, is not dead. And during the next segment on First Take, Smith began by clarifying that he knows Richardson is alive, insisting he always knew.

In the next segment, Smith clarified “I am fully aware that Nolan Richardson is alive. Trust me. I apologize for that…I know he’s alive.” https://t.co/hMa8n3HXHG pic.twitter.com/LCVzsKLLQo

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 28, 2025

“I am fully aware that Nolan Richardson is alive. Trust me. I apologize for that,” Smith said. “I don’t know why I said, ‘God rest his soul.’ I know he’s alive, I’ve always known that. So I just wanted to make sure I made that clear before we moved on to the show. I don’t want anybody thinking I thought the man was gone. I did not. I know he’s alive.”

Even if we give Smith the benefit of the doubt that he knows and always knew Richardson is alive, it was still his second apology in as many days. Both apologies bizarrely having to do with death.

During his rebuttal to LeBron James’ appearance on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this week, Smith accused the Los Angeles Lakers star of skipping out on Kobe Bryant’s memorial service following his death in 2020. It was widely reported, however, that James did attend Bryant’s memorial service, leading Smith to apologize for saying otherwise.

Thankfully, Smith didn’t accost LeBron for not attending Richardson’s memorial service. And we hope Richardson won’t be needing a memorial service for a very long time.