Stephen A. Smith continues to add to his list of strikeouts.
The ESPN personality Smith was speaking Monday on “First Take” about the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors officially failed to qualify for the 2026 playoffs after losing to the Phoenix Suns in the NBA play-in tournament a few days prior.
During his remarks, Smith made a curious claim. Smith said that Golden State had not made the playoffs since winning the NBA championship in 2022.
"They haven't been back to the playoffs since that championship in 2022. That's four years away from the playoffs" – Stephen A. Smith on the Golden State Warriors pic.twitter.com/xrUGkeKuoZ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2026
Of course, that is a blatantly false claim by Smith. The Warriors made the playoffs in 2023 and then again in 2025.
Making matters even worse is the fact that Golden State actually advanced in the playoffs both times as well. They won a memorable seven-game first-round series against the rival Sacramento Kings in 2023 (before losing in the second round to the Los Angeles Lakers) and then won another exciting seven-game first-round series over the Houston Rockets in 2025 (before losing in the second round to the Minnesota Timberwolves).
But these kinds of mistakes have unfortunately become more the rule than the exception for Smith. The longtime media figure Smith clearly does not follow the NBA very closely these days and is not even on top of things any more when it comes to his beloved New York Knicks.
