There are hot takes. And then there’s this. In a saga that’s spiraled into one of the most bizarre and debated mysteries in NBA circles, analyst Pablo Torre just reignited the fire surrounding LeBron James and the late Kobe Bryant’s memorial.
While some say he was there, Torre isn’t buying it. He wants to dig in deep on this one. On the facts point at, “There’s no f–king way he was there.” And suddenly, the buzz is on.
Pablo Torre Stating the Facts on LeBron James
This whole thing started snowballing again thanks to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who initially threw fuel on the fire by claiming Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James skipped Bryant’s memorial back in 2020. Smith later tried to walk it back by first saying there was a reason James wasn’t on camera, then backtracking entirely in a social media post, calling his earlier statement a “misspeak.”
But then came Pablo Torre. On his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” the analyst said he did some real digging. And not just social media scrolling type of digging … we’re talking high-level source kind of work.
Torre said he spoke to eight people involved in Kobe’s memorial event, and not one of them remembers seeing James. Not even Lakers owner Jeanie Buss. Not even the lead producer of the memorial. Nobody. Torre dropped the mic with: “There’s no f–king way he was there. If he was there, he was Casper the Ghost.”
Pablo Torre says he spoke to eight high-level sources who were involved with Kobe’s memorial, and they say LeBron wasn’t there
"There's no f–king way he was there. If he was there, he was Casper the Ghost."😳
(🎥 @pablofindsout )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 4, 2025
And if you think about it, those are some bold words in a league where narratives can flip on a dime. Walking on a fine line there.
Was LeBron James at Kobe Bryant’s Memorial or Wasn’t He?
One of the key points people used to defend James’ attendance was Diana Taurasi allegedly pointing at him during her tribute speech. But Torre double-checked the camera angles and couldn’t find a single frame to back that up. Nada. On top of that, Taurasi reportedly confirmed she didn’t see James at the memorial either.
There was also this claim floating around that James wanted to stay off-camera that day. Even Stephen A. Smith leaned into that excuse at one point. Torre called that bluff, too. The event’s producer, Renato Basile, was clear: “The off-camera thing is bulls**t.”
Some outlets did report James was there, but they didn’t cite concrete proof. No quotes, no sightings, no confirmation from James himself. And that’s what makes this whole situation so weird. Because on one hand, if the Los Angeles Lakers superstar wasn’t there, fine —maybe there were personal reasons.
But why the smoke and mirrors? Why the conflicting stories?
Maybe one day, LeBron James will speak on it. Until then, the mystery lives on — and Pablo Torre’s voice is now one of the loudest in the room.