The BBC has issued an apology after it mistakenly used footage of LeBron James in its coverage of Kobe Bryant's sudden death. But as you will see from the response on Twitter, the damage was already done.

Shortly after news of the fatal helicopter crash, which killed Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, BBC News at 10 aired a clip in which it paired footage of James on court while discussing Bryant's achievements. Watch below.

An apology via journalist Paul Royall blames this dumbfounding oversight on "human error," stating that the mistake was below their usual standards.

The BBC also offered the following underwhelming excuse, "In our coverage of the death of Kobe Bryant, in one section of the report, we mistakenly showed pictures of another basketball player, LeBron James. We do apologize for the error.“

Its mistaking of two black sporting legends has not gone unnoticed, with many questioning whether this would have happened at all were James and Bryant caucasian. Read what everyone has to say about the "human error" below.