Face of NBA vs. Face of ESPN. The LeBron James—Stephen A. Smith beef has taken over the sports world as both parties continue to fire shots at each other. After LBJ appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and broke silence about his on-court confrontation with the ESPN veteran, Smith accused the Lakers star of lying on national television, “I want to say for the record, LeBron James is full of it. And in this particular instance, as it pertains to his son, he is a liar.” But Stephen A.’s accusations seem to have backfired!

That’s because after calling LeBron a liar, the analyst himself was caught spreading misinformation on First Take. Following the four-time champ’s viral Instagram post mocking Smith’s boxing skills, the media veteran opened his ESPN show with a 15-minute rant targeting LeBron. During his outburst, Stephen A. touched upon a sensitive topic: “I never brought up really and never really discussed why you were not at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service.”

Yes, he stated that LeBron did not attend Kobe’s memorial in 2020 after he passed away in a helicopter crash. The problem is, this was not true. ‘King James’ was, in fact, present at the Lakers legend’s memorial but reportedly requested the media not to photograph him. Moreover, The Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Tonight, and other publications confirmed his attendance.

Realizing his massive blunder, Stephen A. issued a public apology to LeBron in a tweet: “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 was not my main point. I retract NOTHING else that I said. Have a nice day!”

Unfortunately, the damage was already done, and the apology could not save Smith from the hoop community’s wrath.

NBA world urges ESPN to “Fire” Stephen A. Smith for crossing the line with LeBron James

Soon after Stephen A. was caught lying on national television, fans called him out with comments like, “You really need to stop spreading misinformation.”

Even the famous parody page, NBACentel, that is ironically popular for spreading rumors and misinformation, said the same thing, “Stephen A Swift. Quit spreading misinformation.” Of course, “Swift” referring to LeBron’s comments on Pat McAfee’s show saying Stephen A. is on a “Taylor Swift tour run” with the constant media appearances.

Meanwhile, netizens also began going after the analyst’s job as one wrote, “You crossed the line dude @espn fire him immediately.” Well, Smith recently inked a five-year, $100 million contract with ESPN and is also the face of the network. So, it’s unlikely that they will fire him. However, such incidents are not good for the reputation of both the analyst and ESPN.

One furious fan rightfully pointed out that there was no need to bring Kobe’s death into the argument, “Even if it was true, LeBron’s attendance at the Kobe Bryant memorial had nothing to do with the reason for why LeBron and Stephen A. Smith are having issues, should not have been brought up at all, and inadvertently proves LeBron’s larger point.” Yes, the beef is between Stephen A. and LeBron. Bringing up Bryant’s passing to gain leverage, that too, without fact checking, was not a wise move by the media mogul.

One netizen simply called Stephen A.’s move, “When clout chasing goes wrong.”

Seeing how quickly this beef has escalated in the last couple of days, it is highly likely that there is more to come from both ends. Hopefully, the next time either Stephen A. or LeBron speaks up, they will verify the information first. And hopefully, this doesn’t end up in Stephen A. turning into Stephen Bayless. Thoughts?