by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton
‘My apologies and clarification. I misspoke in Hour#1 of @FirstTake today when I intimated that LeBron did not attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial’
The feud between ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James continued when Smith stated that LeBron did not attend the late Kobe Bryant’s memorial service. Still, he had to retract that statement when he was informed that LeBron was in attendance.
According to Mediaite, after LeBron had some words to say about the critical sports announcer on The Pat McAfee Show, Smith appeared on his First Take program and criticized the future NBA Hall of Famer and stated that LeBron doesn’t want him to discuss other issues not related to basketball. He then went on to say that he “never brought up” that LeBron was not at Kobe’s service nor was he there when his “Banana Boat Crew” friend and former teammate, Dwyane Wade, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
“If LeBron James wants to see me continue to cover the sport, or he wants to have a problem with me continuously covering the sport, I suggest that he’d be happy with the things that I haven’t brought up,” Smith 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 and 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. I brought up none of that.”
In a later segment on the show, Smith said several people texted him to inform him that LeBron was, indeed, at Kobe’s memorial service. Smith seemingly apologized but did not acknowledge that he was wrong, but, admitingly said that he was told that LeBron “was in the building.”
Instead of acknowledging he erred in stating LeBron wasn’t there, he said, “I didn’t mean to say he wasn’t in the building. I was told he was in the building, you understand, but we saw a whole bunch of players out there. We didn’t see him. Why? I’ll let him answer that one day if he so chooses.”
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…
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Source: Black Enterprise
