Stephen A. Smith refuses to back down after Kash Patel scolds ESPN star over NBA gambling probe comments

Stephen A. Smith isn’t backing down from FBI Director Kash Patel, even if he has no interest in escalating their verbal spat. 

The ESPN star stated during “First Take” on Thursday that President Trump is “coming” after the FBI announced a sweeping probe into two separate illegal sports gambling-related cases that included the arrest of Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones, along with members of Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese mob families.

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Smith predicted that further crackdown and arrests are coming from the FBI and seemed to insinuate that the president has influence over the investigation, saying people “better brace themselves.”

Patel went on with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on “The Ingraham Angle” later that night and skewered Smith for his comments, saying it “may be the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard out of anyone in modern history.”

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Patel added that he decides which arrests to conduct. 

Smith responded Friday afternoon during his SiriusXM radio show and had no interest in taking back what he said about the investigation. 

“I would say he’s the director of the FBI, let’s just say I’m not trying to get on his bad side,” Smith said. “But having said that, I still stand by what I said. And I’m not changing my mind. … In the interest of being real and making you understand who I am as a journalist and a commentator spanning 30 years, I just want you all to know that it’s customary for people to say I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, that I’m off my damn rocker, only to come down the pike weeks, months later and say, ‘Yeah, it was true’ or the facts bear those things out.

“This investigation has been going on when [Joe] Biden was in office. They talked about how this stuff has been going on since 2019, which is when Trump was in office. I’m not implying that Kash Patel doesn’t have any legitimacy to the case that he’s pursuing against these individuals … and I’m not about to argue with an FBI director. I’m simply making the point that in the end, you have a president in place that has a lengthy connection to the sports world, rife with friends and enemies. And those who are his enemies, he doesn’t mind inconveniencing one bit. And when it comes to the NBA brand, it doesn’t bother him.”

Thirty-four people were arrested in the scheme that netted $7 million over two years, according to the FBI.

The NBA has put Billups and Rozier on leave pending the result of the investigation.

Billups and Rozier were indicted on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.  

“Tell me when we’ve seen that. … We’ve seen accusations before,” Smith said on “First Take.” “We’ve seen athletes get in trouble with the law before. You don’t see the director of the FBI having a press conference. It’s not coincidental. It’s not an accident. It’s a statement, and it’s a warning that more is coming,” Smith said on air Thursday.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Smith said, while not adding any proof. “It’s very concerning. We don’t know where this is gonna go. But everybody better brace themselves, because he’s coming,” 

NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the arrests and investigation for the first time during an interview with NBA on Prime during the Knicks-Celtics game Friday night.

The commissioner was “deeply disturbed” and said there is nothing more important than the “integrity of the competition.”