For years, Stephen A. Smith’s numerous football mistakes have been fairly easy to explain.
He’s not an NFL guy (remember when he said the three key players for a game were three guys who didn’t play in the game?)
Stephen A. Smith falsely claimed that the Warriors have not made the playoffs since 2022, but Golden State reached the second round in both 2023 and 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
He’s definitely not a college football guy (remember when he called Jalen Milroe Jalen “Milroy” multiple times and then read the wrong stat line after a college football playoff game?).
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ESPN forces you to participate in those conversations because First take has to talk about football, and Smith knows that football is the most popular sport in the country and needs to be seen as an authority (even if he isn’t).
But Monday’s latest mistake is much harder to excuse, because this time Smith wasn’t talking about the NFL or college football. He was talking about the Golden State Warriors, one of the dynasties that defined the NBA of the last decade.
In other words, he was talking about the sport and the league that is supposed to be his bread and butter.
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While discussing whether Steve Kerr coached his final game with Golden State, Smith confidently stated that the Warriors “haven’t been back to the playoffs since that championship in 2022.”
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr watches during a game against the Sacramento Kings. (Robert Edwards/Image Images)
That’s not even close to the truth. Golden State not only made the playoffs last season, but they also made the postseason in 2023. Last year, the Warriors made the playoffs, beat the Rockets in seven games and advanced 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 even have been right if he said they haven’t won a playoff series since 2022. But he didn’t say that. He said they haven’t made the playoffs in any of the last four years, except they did it twice.
Oh.
This isn’t some obscure NBA trivia that Smith could easily be forgiven for not knowing. Maybe he was too busy playing solitaire on his phone and missed two of the last three NBA playoffs. That’s a tough look for the guy who considers himself the number one NBA analyst in the country.
And it’s a terrible look for ESPN as they continue to sell Smith as one of the faces of their NBA coverage.
Stephen A. Smith made a brutal mistake while talking about the Warriors’ playoff history
If Smith made this kind of mistake when talking about the NFL, no one would be surprised. At this point, sports fans practically expect him to destroy football analysis. It’s almost endearing that a guy with Smith’s ego can be so consistently wrong and yet present every “fact” with the utmost confidence. It’s part of Stephen A.’s experience.
But this one is different because it’s supposed to be in the NBA where you’re supposed to at least know the basics. This is where Smith prides himself on being an authority figure.
Stephen A. Smith incorrectly claimed that the Golden State Warriors have not made the playoffs since their 2022 championship, even though the team has made the postseason twice since then. (Candice Ward/Image Images)
And yet, he couldn’t keep the Warriors’ recent playoff history straight. The team whose head coach makes the news every two weeks. The team that has won four championships since 2014. Arguably one of the biggest franchises in the NBA in the last 15 years.
Yes, Golden State missed the playoffs in 2024 after being eliminated in the Play-In Tournament (although they won 46 games that season). And yes, this season fell short again. But that’s a lot different than acting like Steve Kerr has spent four years wandering through the basketball wilderness since winning that 2022 title.
He hasn’t done it. In fact, the team is 175-153 over the last four regular seasons.
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The Warriors moved to the second round in 2023. They moved to the second round again in 2025.
Before burying Steve Kerr on national television, maybe Stephen A. Smith could take 10 seconds to confirm if the Warriors were really in the playoffs.
