No one appears to recall the Los Angeles Lakers star attending Kobe Bryant’s memorial ceremony, but Stephen A. Smith may be the first one to openly accuse LeBron James of missing it.
He accused James of missing Bryant’s memorial ceremony after his death in 2020 last month, during the height of their continuing rivalry. Smith subsequently amended himself to acknowledge James’ presence during the same First Take episode, saying that there was a particular reason he wasn’t visible or captured on camera.
Smith responded to the charge once more on social media, saying he “misspoke” when he “indicated LeBron did not attend Kobe Bryant’s memorial” and expressing regret for bringing up the topic.
“Pablo Torre Finds Out” investigates LeBron James’s absence at Kobe Bryant’s funeral
“Pablo Torre Finds Out” made an effort to verify the claim after Stephen A. Smith made it extremely evident and pointedly that LeBron James had repeatedly skipped Kobe Bryant’s memorial ceremony in recent years before walking it back last month.
Furthermore, Torre had trouble locating any proof that James attended the service throughout his investigation into the accusation. When Torre questioned Renato Basile, the memorial’s chief producer, about the alleged James order, he was informed: “The off-camera thing is bullsh*t.”
We fact-checked Stephen A. Smith’s allegation that LeBron James did not attend Kobe’s memorial, with 8 sources:
“There’s no f–king way he was there. If he was there, he was Casper the Ghost.” pic.twitter.com/iu9BrP0DxO
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) April 4, 2025
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and two other “high-level sources” who were involved in the event’s planning informed Pablo Torre Finds Out that they did not see James that day. Whether or not LeBron James attended Kobe Bryant’s funeral shouldn’t really be news.
