Stephen A. Smith Faces Heavy Criticism For using Anniversary Of Kobe Bryant’s Death Anniversary To Slam Current Players

Stephen A. Smith picked the wrong time to make a point about Kobe Bryant on Wednesday.

As today marked the second anniversary of the tragic helicopter crash that killed Kobe and his daughter Gigi, Stephen A used the tribute to point out a difference in The Mamba and players in the league today.

When a video honoring Kobe Bryant and Gigi was playing on ESPN, Stephen A Smith narrated by slamming current players.

“Players missing games for reasons that have nothing to do with injury,” Stephen A. says in the clip, as footage of Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving appear on screen, “That was not Kobe Bryant.”

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Stephen A used a Kobe tribute to throw shots at players. You’re disgusting bruh @stephenasmith pic.twitter.com/KXaWpgmAaX

— Zeke 💫 (@ThatBoyZek) January 26, 2022

NBA fans swarmed social media to call out Stephen A. Smith for picking the wrong moment to prove his point about players in today’s NBA.

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Missing games for nothing? This is low even for SAS
Since 2018 Kawhi had a chronic quad injury, and now ACL injury.

— Rebirth_Of_Soul (@TrevorMartinTho) January 26, 2022

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“Is he wrong?” Using a tribute to push personal agendas is nasty. Idc what y’all talking about.

— Zeke 💫 (@ThatBoyZek) January 26, 2022

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I used to love watching and listening to Stephen A talk, I can’t stand his content from the last year. https://t.co/CO77XrFqFx

— HTB ♨️ (@HenryTheBlasian) January 27, 2022

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Fuck you @stephenasmith https://t.co/4UVPEvNvc3

— E̳l̳i̳ (@pattyspassion) January 27, 2022

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Kyrie Irving:

Stephen A Smith: https://t.co/0FncpVQBGx pic.twitter.com/0KAccqoAew

— #0urMVP185⭐️(NETS|NYG😔) (@EliteTheKing_) January 27, 2022

We could debate the “was he wrong?” argument about this Stephen A. Smith comment. But at the end of the day, he probably should have just known better than to use Kobe Bryant’s day to make that point.

Either way, the NBA world still misses Kobe everyday, and will carry on his legacy for many years to come.

We’ll see if Stephen A. Smith apologizes for his Kobe Bryant comments leading to public outcry on Wednesday.

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