Prominent American sports pundit Stephen A. Smith has sparked mass uproar after claiming the FBI’s investigation into mafia-led illegal sports betting and rigged poker was a deliberate political move backed by US President Donald Trump.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami guard Terry Rozier were arrested on Friday over their alleged involvement in illegal gambling ventures

They were two of more than 30 others arrested in connection with various gambling offences, according to US authorities.

Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information.

Billups is charged with allegedly being part of rigged underground poker games backed by Mafia families. Both men face money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy charges.

The news has left the US sports world stunned.

Speaking about the saga on his ESPN show ‘First Take’ while FBI Director Kash Patel was still speaking about the arrests and crimes, Stephen A. Smith declared Trump must have had a hand in leading the FBI to uncover the illegal gambling ventures.

“How many times, with one incident after another, have I said Trump is coming. He’s coming,” the sports journalist declared.

You can watch his full bizarre rant in the player above.

“Bad Bunny is performing at the Super Bowl, and all of a sudden, you’re hearing ICE is going to be there looking to engage in mass deportations.

“The Super Bowl, disrupting things. Big night for the NBA. (Victor) Wembanyama put on a show … that has now been smeared because we’re talking about this story. ‘Don’t be surprised if the WNBA is next on his list.

“When you’ve got all these protests going on out there, protesting against him … this man is coming, he’s coming. I’ve been saying it for a long time.

“For me, this is the latest nugget of evidence. That’s not to question the legitimacy of the case, we don’t know.

“But anybody that has been around him, anybody that has talked to him and seen his reactions, from the sports leagues … they are not surprised at what’s going on today.

“I’m watching a press conference with the Director of the FBI, tell me when we’ve seen that? It’s not coincidental, it’s not an accident, it’s a statement … and it’s a warning that more is coming.

“In his eyes, folks tried to throw him in jail. In his eyes, he’s innocent and ‘they tried to put me behind bars. I’m getting everybody.’ He’s not playing. Everybody better brace themselves, because he’s coming.”

His bizarre rant stunned viewers, with many taking to social media to call out the fact that the investigation actually began when Trump was not in office, and was instead when Joe Biden was the country’s leader.

“This isn’t a guy being dumb. This is Stephen A. Smith intentionally making a provocative statement he knows is misleading,” one person wrote on X.

“The FBI director showed up because this is a huge mob-related arrest. The FBI always shows up. You’d have to live under a rock or be as dumb as dirt to believe what he just said. TDS (Trump derangement syndrome) is a real thing.

Another person added, “Why is everything made political? This investigation started before Trump got into office. So the FBI cracks down on illegal mafia and illegal gambling racket in the NBA, but Trump is still a bad guy.”

And a third said: “Stephen A. Smith makes the NBA gambling scandal about Trump because of course he does.”

The broadcaster’s wild claims even got the attention of FBI Director Patel who joined Fox News to call out the rant.

“I’m the FBI director. I decide which arrest to conduct and which not to conduct and that may be the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard out of anyone in modern history and I live most of my time in Washington, D.C,” Patel said.

“It’s right up there with Adam Schiff. We arrest people for crimes.”

It comes as new details about the mafia-backed, rigged poker games emerged.

The technology allegedly used to swindle people out of millions included X-ray poker tables and eyewear that can read specially marked cards.

Authorities allege that Billups was one of many people who played in rigged illegal poker games run by organised crime families, who would take cuts of the profits and use force to go after debtors.

The poker games began as early as 2019, and victims were often lured to the games by the presence of sports celebrities such as Billups, who is alleged to have benefited from the cheating and was cut in on the proceeds.

The team of alleged cheaters used various technologies like shuffling machines altered to read the cards in the deck and predict which player had the best hand, specially designed contact lenses and sunglasses to read the backs of playing cards, and also had players informed about what moves to make thanks to monitoring systems that were used by people outside of the room.

That person would then send the information to someone sitting at the table, who would alert other cheating players with signals, such as tapping certain chips.

Billups retired from the NBA as a player in 2014 and has been the head coach of the Trail Blazers since 2021. He was on the bench for the team’s first game of the season on Wednesday, a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Rozier and a former NBA player and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were among six people arrested in a sports betting case, according to FBI Director Patel.

US Attorney Joseph Nocella said Rozier and Jones allegedly “participated in one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalised in the United States”.

He described it as “an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about National Basketball Association athletes and teams”.

The defendants were involved in illegal betting on the performance of players on the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Raptors, Nocella said.

He said the NBA has co-operated with the investigation, which led to the indictments unsealed on Friday.

New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch cited an example of a March 23, 2023, game in which Rozier was then playing for the Hornets.

Rozier let co-conspirators “know that he planned to leave the game early with a supposed injury,” Tisch said.

“Using that information, members of the group placed more than $200,000 in wagers” on his expected performance in the game, she said.

“Rozier exited the game after just nine minutes, and those bets paid out, generating tens of thousands of dollars in profit.”