Copyright Staten Island Advance
There’s a feud brewing between ESPN host Stephen A. Smith and the Trump-appointed FBI Director, Kash Patel. On Friday, the outspoken host clapped back at Patel, who minimized Smith’s warning regarding the Trump administration targeting the NBA, calling it “the dumbest thing” he’d ever heard. Smith says he’s used to being doubted, only for “the facts to bear those things out” later. “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 on his Sirius XM show, via YouTube. “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 (while) 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.” On Thursday, Patel announced 34 individuals had been arrested and charged in connection to wide-ranging investigations into rigged poker schemes and illegal sports betting on NBA games. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier were among those detained and indicted. Smith questioned the timing of the sting operation, which came during the opening week of the NBA regular season, and whether President Donald Trump had directed his hand-picked FBI chief to send a statement to pro leagues that had drawn his ire in the past. “It’s not coincidental, it’s not an accident,” Smith said Thursday on ESPN’s “First Take” program. “It’s a statement, and it’s a warning that more is coming. ... (Trump is) coming. He’s coming.” Patel later ripped the ESPN pundit over his comments, saying the FBI investigation had been underway since 2019.
