Stephen A. Smith made a brutal gaffe while talking about the Golden State Warriors
For years, many of Stephen A. Smith’s mistakes were easy enough to explain.
He’s not an NFL guy (remember when he said the three most important players in the game were three guys who didn’t play in the game?)
Stephen A. Smith lied that the Warriors had not made the playoffs since 2022, but Golden State reached the second round in 2023 and 2025. (Photos by Jerome Miron/Imagn)
He’s definitely not a college football guy (remember when he called Jalen Milroe Jalen “Milroy” multiple times and read the wrong stat line after a College Football Playoff game?).
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ESPN is forcing him into those conversations because First Take he must talk about football, and Smith knows that football is the most popular sport in this country and needs to be seen as an authority (even though he is not).
But Monday’s latest blunder is even harder to justify, because this time Smith wasn’t talking about the NFL or college football. He was talking about the Golden State Warriors, one of the NBA’s kings of the last decade.
In other words, he was talking about sports and the league that should be his bread and butter.
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When discussing whether Steve Kerr has coached his last game with Golden State, Smith confidently stated that the Warriors “haven’t been back to the playoffs since this championship in 2022.”
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr looks on as they face the Sacramento Kings. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Photos)
That is not even close to the truth. Not only did Golden State make the playoffs last season, but they also reached the postseason in 2023. Last year, the Warriors reached the finals, beating the Rockets in seven games and advancing to the second round before losing to the Timberwolves. In 2023, they beat the Sacramento Kings in the first round before losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
So, Smith wouldn’t be right if he said they haven’t won a playoff series since 2022. But he didn’t say that. He said that in the last four years they did not enter the play offs, unless they did it twice.
Yes.
This is not some obscure piece of NBA gossip that Smith can easily be forgiven for not knowing. Maybe he was too busy playing solitaire on his phone and just missed two of the last three NBA seasons. That’s a tough look for a guy who bills himself as the No. 1 NBA analyst in the country.
And it’s a bad look for ESPN, as they keep marketing Smith as one of the faces of their NBA coverage.
Stephen A. Smith made a brutal gaffe while talking about Warriors playoff history
If Smith made this kind of mistake while talking about the NFL, no one would be surprised. At this point, sports fans expect him to score football analysis. It’s almost adorable that a guy with Smith’s ego can be so consistently wrong while delivering every “truth” with so much confidence. It’s part of Stephen A.’s experience.
But this one hits a different note because the NBA is where he should at least know the basics. This is where Smith strikes himself as an authority figure.
Stephen A. Smith incorrectly stated that the Golden State Warriors have never made the playoffs since their 2022 run, despite the team reaching the postseason twice since then. (Photos by Candice Ward/Imagn)
However, he could not keep the Warriors’ recent playoff record straight. A team whose head coach makes headlines every few weeks. A team that has won four championships since 2014. Arguably one of the most important franchises in the NBA over the past 15 years.
Yes, Golden State missed the playoffs in 2024 after being swept in the Play-In Tournament (despite winning 46 games that season). And yes, it was short again this season. But that’s very different from doing like Steve Kerr who has spent four years wandering the basketball wilderness since winning that 2022 title.
He didn’t. In fact, the team is 175-153 over the past four regular seasons.
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The Warriors made the second round in 2023. They will do a second round in 2025.
Before burying Steve Kerr on national television, maybe Stephen A. Smith could take 10 seconds to confirm that the Warriors are actually, you know, in the playoffs.
