Disappointment remains high in the Bay Area after the Golden State Warriors missed the NBA playoffs for the fourth year in a row.
That is according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who spent the weekend at WrestleMania instead of a cursory Google search which would have told him of his mistake.
MORE: Why Warriors fans falsely believe Stephen Curry announced his retirement
“They haven’t been back to the playoffs since that championship in 2022,” Smith said Monday in a “First Take” segment. “That’s four years away from the playoffs.”
Stephen A. Smith calls out the Warriors
“They haven’t been back to the playoffs since that championship in 2022. That’s four years away from the playoffs.”
// The Warriors made the playoffs last year 😅
(h/t @awfulannouncing ) pic.twitter.com/BhIqoytMVn
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 20, 2026
In fact, the Warriors have returned to the playoffs twice since their 2022 championship win.
In 2023, the Warriors lost a second-round series to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers that ended their latest title defense. And just last season, Golden State again reached the second round, where they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Golden State hasn’t returned to the heights that fans saw them reach in the 2010s and earlier this decade. But Smith fudging his facts to this degree won’t make Warriors fans happy with the media.
More NBA news: