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Stephen A. Smith issues apology over wrongly declaring Arkansas great Nolan Richardson dead on TV

by:Alex Byington•03/28/25•

_AlexByington

Stephen A. Smith (1)
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

ESPN firebrand Stephen A. Smith has now had to correct himself twice in the last two days, including clarifying his Thursday morning criticism of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. First, he falsely stated James didn’t attend the 2020 funeral of the late Kobe Bryant when he did.

On Friday, Smith once again apologized for incorrectly suggesting legendary Arkansas men’s basketball coach Nolan Richardson had passed away during an early morning First Take segment about the Razorbacks’ Sweet 16 loss to Texas Tech in overtime Thursday night.

“Oh, by the way, before we even begin the show, I just want to make sure say I am fully aware that Nolan Richardson is alive. Trust me, I apologize for that,” Smith said. “I don’t know why I said ‘God rest his soul.’ I know he’s alive. I’ve always known that. I just wanted to make sure I made that clear, Molly (Qerim), before we moved on with the show. I don’t want anybody thinking I thought the man was gone. I did not. I know he’s alive.”

Qerim responded: “Ok, I didn’t even hear you said that.”

Stephen A. Smith mistakenly describes Arkansas legend Nolan Richardson as ‘the late, great’

In a previous segment, Stephen A. Smith was praising the job first-year Arkansas head coach John Calipari did this past season even getting the 10th-seeded Razorbacks to the Sweet Sixteen when he described the 83-year-old Richardson as “the late, great” before adding “God rest his soul.”

“Of course he’ll have his teams in the tournament, of course he’ll be able to recruit better than anybody ever has there outside of Mr. 40 Minutes of Hell himself — the late, great Nolan Richardson, God rest his soul,” Smith said. “But in the same breath, if anybody can compete with that and bring a national program back to Arkansas, it is John Calipari. I think he’s already done it.”

Richardon famously coached the Razorbacks from 1985-2002, leading Arkansas to its only NCAA national championship, beating Duke to claim the 1994 national title. He was also in charge of the last three Final Four appearances in 1990, 1994 and 1995, the last of which ended with a championship game loss to UCLA.

Richardson still holds the Arkansas school record for most wins by a men’s basketball coach with an overall record of 389-169 (.697 winning percentage). The Razorbacks won more games than any other NCAA program between the 1989-90 and 1995-96 seasons.