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There could be a full-length novel written about the wild words coming out of Stephen A. Smith’s mouth this week.
He claimed he would’ve swung at LeBron James, who “wasn’t at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service,” and now Smith sent his condolences to a “late great” who is not actually dead.
While No. 10 seed Arkansas bowed out of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night against No. 3 seed Texas Tech, Smith discussed what head coach John Calipari has going for him with the program, comparing him to Nolan Richardson — perhaps the greatest to ever coach the Razorbacks.
“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.” – Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/xSFWn9zC99— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 28, 2025
“[Calipari’s] gonna be able to recruit better than anybody ever has [at Arkansas] outside of ‘Mr. 40 Minutes of Hell’ himself, the late great, Nolan Richardson,” Smith said Friday on ESPN’s “First Take,” adding, “God rest his soul.”
Richardson is a Hall of Fame coach who led Arkansas to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and three Final Fours across 17 seasons with the program.
The 83-year-old hasn’t coached since 2002, but make no mistake: he is alive.
At the beginning of the show’s next segment, Smith apologized and claimed that he fully knew that Richardson was not dead.
“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. … I don’t want anybody thinking I thought [Richardson] was gone, I did not. I know he’s alive.”
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
Smith is seemingly all out of sorts in his recollection on legendary basketball figures’ deaths, as the Richardson slip-up comes just a day after he called out LeBron James for not being at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service in 2020 — another completely incorrect statement.
“My apologies and clarification. I misspoke in [hour No. 1] of [First Take] today when I intimated that LeBron did not attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial,” Smith said after his false claim about James. “I corrected myself in [hour No. 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.”
