Stephen A. Smith had more to say about LeBron James, which comes as no surprise. The 57-year-old media personality falsely claimed that the Los Angeles Lakers superstar skipped Kobe Bryant’s memorial service in 2020 during his latest rant.
The sports analyst opened with an extensive nearly 20-minute discussion about LeBron James’ recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show and his Instagram post mocking Smith’s boxing workout.
During his tirade, Smith reiterated his stance that James is not the greatest basketball player of all time, comparing his career to Michael Jordan’s.
He also made several remarks about James’ character and accused him of not attending the memorial service for the late Lakers legend, who tragically died in a helicopter crash.
“I never brought up really and never really discussed why you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service,” Smith stated.
“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.”
While acknowledging that James may have missed Wade’s induction to be with Bronny James during his recovery from cardiac arrest, Smith then questioned why James was out of the country on business just two weeks earlier.
Here’s the issue: LeBron James was present at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service and specifically requested not to be shown on camera. His attendance was confirmed, making it unclear why Smith believed otherwise and confidently stated his false claim on national television.
Lebron James
Fans on social media were quick to share articles from other publications that confirmed James’ attendance, calling out Smith and labeling him “disgusting” for making such an accusation.
Smith’s anger toward James has been growing over the past few weeks, but his reaction on March 25 may have taken it to a new level.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer called Smith out for “missing the point” regarding their confrontation at the March 6 game against the New York Knicks and for unnecessarily prolonging the issue.
Additionally, James took issue with analyst Brian Windhorst, calling him “weird” for acting as though they were close friends, which further aggravated Smith.
Later that night, James sealed the Lakers’ victory over the Indiana Pacers with a buzzer-beater and promptly took to Instagram to mock Smith.
He posted a video of himself boxing, adding the popular Key Glock and Young Dolph “Womp, womp, womp” meme—seemingly in response to Smith’s claim that he would have swung on James if their altercation had become physical. Notably, this marked James’ first public reaction to the situation in nearly three weeks.
