The crossover between basketball and federal law enforcement is not a thing of last year. 2026 brought it with a fresh new twist. The FBI’s investigation has extended to college basketball, too, with several current and former college basketball players indicted last week. The extension from the NBA to the NCAA has sparked a side conversation thanks to Stephen A. Smith. And it’s catching on with others in the NBA community who are questioning the FBI’s focus on basketball players.

Kendrick Perkins, Smith’s ESPN colleague, apparently agrees with SAS’s stance. On the latest episode of Road Trippin, he implies there’s a bigger motive behind the FBI’s gambling probe.

“For some reason, I feel like at this point in life, it feels like the FBI is targeting athletes,” Perkins stated during the broadcast. “That’s what it feels like at this point. I’m just saying it seems like at this point that they’re trying to… I mean, it’s the evidence.”

Perk listed past incidents, like Jontay Porter’s lifetime ban, where basketball players have been on the FBI radar to hint at a pattern. “How many times we’ve had this conversation? Especially basketball players. Especially basketball players, yeah.”

He does briefly justify the FBI’s actions, but also says, “I just think gambling is so prevalent, especially in basketball, where you could bet.”

By the Celtics’ champ’s reckoning, sports betting is so commonplace in his sport that investigating almost everyone involved is not realistic. But the FBI’s investigation is beyond the realm of regularized sports betting within the NBA’s limits.

Kendrick Perkins’ opinions echo Stephen A. Smith

In the latest development, federal investigators secured indictments against 26 people accused of rigging college basketball games in America and pro contests in China in January 2026. Among them, at least a dozen are current and former college players.

They face charges that include alleged bribery in sports, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aiding and abetting.

The players, trainers, and coaches indicted are accused of fixing games and point-shaving across two NCAA seasons among other things that are damaging the “integrity of sport itself,” as per the US Attorney’s official statement.

This is an extension of the arrests and indictments in October 2025. Among the names known in the NBA world were Miami Heat player, Terry Rozier, and Portland Trail Blazers coach, Chauncey Billups.

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Soon after those arrests, Stephen A. Smith went on a rant on his self-titled show questioning the motives behind the investigation.

“Trump has a long, long history connected to the world of sports because he had those casinos. Where do you think folks were coming half the time? I’m not talking about individuals, I’m talking about the culture. When people want to go to a casino, when people wanna gamble, when people wanna party, or whatever the case may be, this was his kind of connection to that,” Smith said. He even warned that the WNBA would be investigated next.

FBI Director Kash Patel outrightly denied Smith’s claims. The FBI has also talked about investigating sports leagues.

Kendrick Perkins didn’t state why the FBI would unfairly focus on basketball athletes. He didn’t give his reason at all. He only felt there was a pattern. But his opinion sounds a lot like his ESPN buddy’s.

For Perkins and Smith, the mounting “evidence” of these investigations suggests that the relationship between the hardwood and the courthouse is becoming more intertwined than ever before.