Nick Wright reacts to the Stephen A. Smith x LeBron James feud following James' appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. Nick explains why Stephen A. is losing the war between sports' biggest analyst and it's biggest star. Later, Nick reacts to Bronny James' 39-point performance in the G League and USC star JuJu Watkins tearing her ACL in the NCAA Tournament. #Volume #Herd
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the best of the Week for What's Right
with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this
week on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We have to lead this morning with just a huge bummer,
which is a young woman who I truly and I
said this last year, I think, well, and I'm not
going to use past tints, but I had said this
in the past, and I still believe it has a
chance to be the greatest women's basketball player ever. I
(00:35):
truly believe that. I believe that. When everyone was talking
about and I obviously was a huge part of the
talk as well, about the phenomenon that is Caitlyn Clark,
I think you guys heard me say a couple times
on the show that I thought Juju Watkins at USC
(00:55):
might end up being even better than Caitlin and even
better than everybody her size, her athleticism, her basketball IQ.
It is elite of the elite, and a player that
can do everything, a player that recently put up a
stat line that had not been put up in men's
(01:17):
or women's professional or college basketball this century. When I
think she had thirty eight points, eleven rebounds, five assists,
eight blocks, and again a forty minute college game. She
tore ACL last night, and it's just devastating for a
(01:41):
bunch of reasons. It puts it I would imagine on
the board that she doesn't play college basketball again. Now
I would think she does. I would think that the
plan is for her to miss all of next season
and then come back for what would be her senior year.
(02:05):
I guess red shirt junior year and continue to play.
And with NIL and the WNBA salary structure, I would
have to imagine Juju can potentially make far more money
at USC than she would at the beginning of her
WNBA career, unless something drastically changes with the rookie salary
(02:26):
scale there. But this is just an ultimate bummer because
getting we got in the final four last year Page
versus Caitlin, and we were basically assured that we were
going to get Page versus Juju in the Elite eight,
(02:51):
and it was I talked about how I didn't love
that they put USC in Yukon in the same region
because that felt like it should be a final four
and national championship potential matchup, And it ends up that
it's going to be, and USC should still get they
should be able to win next round without Juju, but
not past that. They absolutely can't beat Yukon without Juju.
(03:14):
And you just feel sick for this young lady who
is has the real potential to be a true superstar,
a true crossovers not just great player. She's obviously going
to be well, she already is a great player, and
she and a torn ACL you know, is not career
(03:36):
altering the way.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
It once was, but.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
She needs a great NCAA tournament run just to catapult
her celebrity the way Caitlin had and the way honestly
Angel Reese, who no disrespect to Angel Reese, but Angel
Reese is not nearly the caliber of player of or
of Juju, or of Page for that matter, and they
(04:04):
have all had these great tournament runs.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Juju.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
This was going to be that this year, and if
not this year, next year and now out for I
would imagine all of next season, which is just such
an absolute bummer. And here is the thing about acls
the way I have seen them over the last decade.
(04:32):
Acls are different in that they used to truly be
career altering, and these days they are not. Meaning people
typically come back one hundred percent to their pre ACL
tear ability strength, speed, quickness, all of that, but they
are not quick injuries. It usually is a minimum of
(04:57):
a calendar year that you are out, and usually a
little more than that until you look like your old self.
So a huge bummer. Not really, this is put this
in the huge story not a great topic category, and
(05:18):
I mean that's kind of what it is. There's not
much to say. It's massive news, but it just sucks.
There's no real take to have. And so Juju Watkins
out and I have to you know, Yukons Now, I'm
gonna look it up on DraftKings.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I just can't.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Maybe you guys can put in the dock for me.
I mean, I know they're the favorite, but I just
wonder what they are now is Yukon women to win
that region, to win the region, I have to imagine
they are minus huge money. I'm not able to pull
it up right now. If you guys can road in
(06:00):
the dock whenever you can find it, just put what
they are to win the championship and what they are
to win the region, because I do not see who
possibly could stop them. Certainly now, listen UCLA South Carolina.
Those are legitimate championship level teams, but I Yukon's in
(06:24):
the final four and they're now plus one sixty to
win the whole thing. We can't find them to win
the region. But it's not gonna be I mean they
it's not gonna be much of a question. I saw,
I got the I had the privilege of watching the
Yukon women in person from court side seats thanks to Fox.
(06:46):
The game was on Fox beginning of the year, and
I left that game saying, I don't know how anyone's
beating them. Now, UCLA and South Carolina is obviously a juggernaut,
and usc had shown oh no, they're they're off that
and Yukon lost a few times. But I feel like
you can put probably in pen A Yukon UCLA final
(07:09):
four on your left side of the bracket, and you know,
thoughts with Juju. It absolutely sucks, just absolutely sucks that
she's done for the year and potentially done for next year.
One note, and I'm sure this will happen because Page
is such an awesome athlete and awesome person. From all accounts,
(07:31):
Page dealt with an ACL and missed a year, and
so I would imagine if she has not already, Paige
is going to reach out to Juju and try to
help her through it, but really really sucks for basketball fans,
for USC fans, for Juju. This episode of What's Right
(07:55):
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Bronnie James thirty nine, seven, four and four for the
South Bay Lakers last night against Santa Cruz. He was
a plus nineteen in his thirty eight minutes. It was
(09:21):
far and away his best game at the professional level.
And this is where I will as I have remind
everyone that twenty months ago, July twenty fifth or twenty
fourth of twenty twenty three, this kid suffered cardiac arrest.
It totally derailed his collegiate season. And that is evidenced
(09:45):
by the fact that he has now had ten professional games,
one at the NBA level and nine at the G
League level that are better than anything he ever did
at in college. And so when people pointed out, like,
oh my god, look at his college statline and that's
(10:07):
a player that you're drafting, it, there had to be
some math done on. Yes, his collegiate numbers were that
of a player that typically would not be drafted, even
late in the second round. But if you throw the
season away and say those numbers were due to the
(10:29):
fact that he never got his legs or his wind
underneath them because of the months he had to stay
away from the court because they thought he might not
be able to play basketball ever again due to a
congenital heart defect, then maybe, just maybe you saw some
traits that could be a successful player. And Kevin O'Connor,
(10:51):
who knows a hell of a lot more about the
draft and about college basketball than I do, tweeted to
me this morning that if they did a redraft today,
he thought Bronni would be a first round pick, and
that if Bronnie can keep up this shooting, then he's
a legitimate NBA player. And again, I am not trying
(11:14):
to make too much of the G League, which is
something we never talked about previously. However, because Bronni is
a star and because he has been the subject of scrutiny,
we have to be fair in that the expectation was
that in the G League with grown men, with a
(11:35):
lot of guys who were former first round picks trying
to make a career for themselves with a lot of
guys who had a lot more experience than him, with
a lot of guys who were much more highly drafted
than him, that he was going to it certainly in
his first year in the G League, really have his
(11:55):
work cutout for him now and more than his work
cutout for him potentially really strung. And instead he now
after not playing well in Summer League and not playing
well in the G League's kind of preseason I don't
even tip off tournament or whatever they call it, in
the G League regular season, he is now averaging twenty
(12:19):
two five and five on forty six thirty eight eighty splits.
That is a great value for your fifty fifth overall pick,
and shout out and credit to Brownie. And so we're
not gonna spend more time on that. But that was
in what missed the Cup, But he didn't actually miss
the cut.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We did a nice few minutes on it. Also.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
SVP my guy after Maryland finally gets on the right
side of a buzzer beater, tweets you know he's a
Dieyard Terrapin fan, and he tweets out never a doubt
as a wise man says, shout out Scott Van Pelt,
Ernie Johnson, Kevin Wilds the only three people in sports
(13:03):
media with one hundred percent approval ratings. And very nice
of Scott to include. You know, obviously my trademark tattooed
came up with first person ever use a phrase, never
a doubt. Very nice of him to use that in
celebrating an all time Marilynd moment. More on the tournament
(13:23):
in a second, and I guess that is one way
to put it. I did invite myself on The Kelsey's pod.
The Kelsey's tweeted should we have an NFL salary cap
expert on the show? And I just responded, I got you.
I'm you know that way it can be said because
obviously I'm a salary cap expert, but also we could
(13:44):
talk other things and it would be interesting because you know,
Eagles fans tend not to like me that much, but Jason,
I would imagine does I don't know, but if we
could get a What's Right with Nick Wright New Heights crossover,
that would have to be good for the burgeoning What's
Right brand, which, by the way, YouTube's like rate, subscribe
(14:07):
review on all platforms. YouTube just crossed one hundred and
ninety thousand, so we appreciate you guys for that. Where
the slow climb towards two hundred thousand continues, But also
we'd really like you guys to subscribe on either iTunes
or Spotify, wherever you guys get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
All right, some.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Quick listener questions. Noah says, do you see Dan Hurley
as the rich Man's Nick? Sirianni, that's listen. I think
that's on the board. Yeah, I mean I think that's
a good a good potential comp and Syrians champion now too.
But Syrian doesn't seem to think the media treats him unfairly. Oh,
(14:47):
the our producers say, maybe they're changing parts and pit stops.
That's maybe that's it. Maybe the cars are good pre
race than during the race. There are some shenanigans. Taylor asks,
why is achilles or an acls sometimes considered a two
year injuries consistently, but a literal heart attack isn't taking
the same understanding. That's about Bronnie. I think it's because
(15:10):
we look at things that aren't like physical injuries is
like binary, like is he okay? Is he allowed to
play again? Okay, then he should be the same when
in reality it's the time off that I think really
hurts these guys at times. Sixness says, what would it
take for you to get into hockey? How much skew
(15:32):
would you need to see in the Vegas books for
betting to be a thing for you during the NHL season?
I for the sake of my marriage, I don't think
I can pick up another sport that I'm into right now.
Maybe at some point in life, but I just know
so little about hockey. Can't see, didn't have a team.
I've never been into it, So I nothing against the sport.
(15:55):
I just I it's very very it'd be very, very
tough for me to tell my wife now, by the way,
also watching hockey, especially because I've kind of refallen in
love with baseball thanks to Bobby Witt Junior and the
Royals being legit again. Uh all right, Alex, is there
a single anything the Rockets can do? Our last tea
games make you believe that they can win a single round? Yeah,
(16:18):
to win a single round?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
For sure?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
There is stuff they can do. So because the Rockets
have a tough schedule, tough ish schedule, I should say
down the stretch, So the Atlanta Utah is their next two,
but then it's Phoenix who's on a four game winning streak,
Lakers Utah again, Oklahoma City, Golden State Clippers, Lakers Denver.
The Rockets play well during that stretch and hold their positioning.
(16:44):
I certainly could see them winning around. My fear for
them is they're gonna drop from the two to like
the four, and unless they are playing an injured Memphis team,
I don't think they could again. I think the Rockets
have had an unbelievable season as it is. They're gonna
win around fifty games. But for me to believe in
them to win around in the playoffs, they have to
(17:05):
show me more. And Scott says, what would it take
for tom En on the hot seat? They haven't been
a true contender since they lost to Jacksonville in twenty seventeen. Listen,
he's just got a contracts sension. I think the Steelers
have had three coaches in fifty years. I actually think
what could be best for the Steelers and for Tomlin
would be a fresh start for both of them. But
(17:27):
it doesn't He's obviously an excellent coach. I just don't
know that you can. I think he if he could
have gotten a job like the one Jim Harball got
where the quarterback is taken care of and you build
the rest of it up, that might be the best.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
And he just hasn't been able to.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Figure out the offensive side of the ball post Big Ben,
or even with Big Ben near the end. When it
comes to college basketball and mark Mania, one thing's for sure.
Nothing's for sure gonna be upsets. There's gonna be buzzer beaters.
We haven't had as many upsets. We just had a
sick buzzer beater, and theoretically Cinderellas should be advancing top
(18:07):
seeds going home early.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
It all could happen.
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slash b ball. This is where I think stephen A
(20:00):
has made a grievous error. He just today he said, quote,
He'll smile on your face and stab you in the back.
That's why I don't like him. He's bringing up Wade's
Hall of Fame induction, Kobe's memorial. He's saying, quote, he
literally circumitted meritocracy in the NBA. Here's the problem, man,
(20:22):
and this is where by continuing to talk about this
and not allowing yourself to take the l you are
really putting yourself in a bad spot. You always claimed
you had no problem with Lebron. You always claimed he
only had a problem with you. Up until six weeks ago,
(20:43):
the stance was, oh, nothing but love with Lebron James. I,
you know, at a great person in the community, a
great this, a great that. I just I just think
he's not the greatest basketball player ever. I just think
(21:06):
he's only the second greatest player ever. And because of that,
he has a problem with me. That's been the public stance.
And now the guy makes fun of you on Instagram
and takes a couple jokes at your spense on McAfee,
and you're letting everyone know, actually, no, never liked him.
And so if the if, if we are going to
(21:27):
do a full, real telling of it. It then the
honest answer is, so why what's been the problem? Was
there something personal before? And the answer is no, Lebron
wouldn't talk to him.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That was the problem.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Lebron wouldn't talk to him or acknowledge him. And Michael
Jordan texts with him. That's it. It's the whole thing.
That's the start of it. And so I it is.
(22:13):
People ask me all the time, man, do you believe
what you say? And my answer always is, now do
I say it louder or more emphatically, or add some
spice to it or whatever? Do I dress it up?
Sure of course? But the reason and this is not
(22:35):
my quote, uh, but this quote is correct. If you
never lie, you don't ever have to remember anything when
you do as And I'm not acting like I'm someone
that never lies. I probably have a bit of a
I'm probably true character flaw of mine is I am
(22:56):
my most honest talking to you guys, friends and family.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I might you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
I might be like, you know what, I can dance
through the rain drops here a bit and clean this
up later. And that's not be honestly, it's self serving.
It's not out of some Woodrow and Burnstein, Woodward Woodrow,
Jesus Woodward and Burnstein journalism ethic. It's because I don't
(23:23):
want to have to. It is too difficult to do
this much content if you're having to remember, oh shit,
I said that, and if your stance forever, forever has
been I have no problem with that person, he has
a problem with me. And then the first time you
(23:43):
get pressed, you empty the clip about everything you've always
had a problem with. People are gonna say you're fucking
lying to us. You were lying to us, and I don't.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
And here is the.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Problem with people in general who don't have the ability
to take an l and who are very online, and
who are public figures. This applies to I guess some
(24:29):
of our actual politicians and some of our potentially would
be or want to be politicians. All you can do
is keep doubling, tripling and quadrupling down because you don't
have the ability to be like I was wrong. You
(24:53):
constantly are reminded of the in in and at hand,
and you are constantly reading people make fun of you
or rip you. So again, I am not trying to
(25:14):
act like I am some.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
I am. You know the silver bullet on this stuff. However,
I do have.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
One kind of just natural superpower, I guess, and another
decision I've made. The natural superpower is this, I am
totally fine being wrong, like, oh shit, got that one wrong.
My bad, not a problem. And the other one is
I don't read my mentions, so people are like, I'm
(25:43):
i am not finding my And at a third thing
I'm very good at I'm I'm on the right side
of the.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Great athletes conversation.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Like the other thing is like I you know, I
in the hey Lebron James good or overrated. I had
the foresight to be like, I'll go with good, you
know what I mean. I think I'll plant my flag
on good and see how it plays out over the
next fifteen years. And so that's been help that's been helpful.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
But I I.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Can't believe that this is how these last few weeks
have gone. And the fact that so here's the other
piece of it that's important demands on one one party
in this is fighting a war of war work. I
(26:40):
can never say that war of words, reminders reminder of
new people in the audience and young people. I as
someone who my only skill is speaking and arguing. Had
a really bad speech impediment growing up and couldn't say
my rs are my l's And now I do it
for a living. So I this is kind of a sidebar,
but just for you know, young people out there or whatever,
(27:03):
like you can get over anything. I shouldn't say anything,
but you can work on stuff and.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
It won't hold you back. Go ahead, No, I was
just flexing on you. No.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Well yeah, and we're world and girl. Anything that has
the R L next to each other like that. I
still struggle with a bit. And I've told this story
of nothing worse and not being able to say your
rs and your last name starts with a hard R,
and when it's not an R, it sounds like a
different word. You don't know how many times I went
(27:35):
to basketball camp as a kid, they're like, what's your name?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Nick? White? They're like, no, white, white, no white. It
was brutal.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Maybe that only happened once, but it.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
It seared me. It scarred me.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
The guy wrote down on my jersey right, and I'm like, no,
it's not white, it's white. Brutal doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I'm good. Now, here's the point I was making in
a war. Stephen A. Is fighting a war of words.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Lebron gets actually go out and play the games, and
he's still awesome. So think about it. In the couple
weeks since this all happened, Lakers had a winning streak,
Bronni drops thirty nine drops, a career high in the NBA,
(28:25):
has another good game the other night, bron last night
hits a game winner, And you have positioned yourself. I
can't imagine being this box stend. You have now positioned
yourself where any time you give fair analysis about a
(28:53):
good Laker game or Bronni or whatever, you're.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Gonna get ripped for that too. Like you are all.
You are so boxed.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
In and the guy, honest to God, So much of this,
as I've said before, so much of the toxicity of
sports media, across all sports and all our debates, is
actually about Michael Jordan and that era and that era
(29:27):
of people who came up in that era being like, man,
my childhood was the best, I promise like and not
seeing that every single human being ever, it's like, hey,
what's your favorite type of music? And for everyone it
just happens to be the exact type of music they
were listening to when they first got their car and
first were able to drive. Who are the best athletes?
(29:49):
And it's like, oh, it just happens to be for everyone,
myself included the athletes like we watched in our formative
years and then into a dulthood and not being able
to see that it's not special. It's just how human beings,
brains are constructed. But point is, this whole thing really
(30:12):
generates from MJ's my buddy. This guy won't talk to me.
I must, against all odds, support MJ's legacy.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
But MJ ain't playing anymore.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
You're never gonna be able to go on.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
The show and be like, ah, look what Michael did.
But this other guy won't fucking quit. He's he is.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
We are in a span of ten days, his son
almost drops forty in the G League and scores are
leads the Lakers in points in the NBA, and he
has a buzzer beater, And so it's just a war
you're not gonna win. And it's a war you're not
(31:05):
gonna win because I think because of your popularity and
success and talent, people of what enough people have watched
you for long enough that we know what the record says,
(31:27):
and we know you have always claimed you have.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
No problem with Lebron. He has a problem with.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
You, and then today you say he will smile on
your face then stab you in the back. That's why
I don't like him. Is that just in the last
two weeks literally circumvented the meritocracy in the NBA. That
in the last two weeks
Welcome to the best of the Week for What's Right
with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this
week on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We have to lead this morning with just a huge bummer,
which is a young woman who I truly and I
said this last year, I think, well, and I'm not
going to use past tints, but I had said this
in the past, and I still believe it has a
chance to be the greatest women's basketball player ever. I
(00:35):
truly believe that. I believe that. When everyone was talking
about and I obviously was a huge part of the
talk as well, about the phenomenon that is Caitlyn Clark,
I think you guys heard me say a couple times
on the show that I thought Juju Watkins at USC
(00:55):
might end up being even better than Caitlin and even
better than everybody her size, her athleticism, her basketball IQ.
It is elite of the elite, and a player that
can do everything, a player that recently put up a
stat line that had not been put up in men's
(01:17):
or women's professional or college basketball this century. When I
think she had thirty eight points, eleven rebounds, five assists,
eight blocks, and again a forty minute college game. She
tore ACL last night, and it's just devastating for a
(01:41):
bunch of reasons. It puts it I would imagine on
the board that she doesn't play college basketball again. Now
I would think she does. I would think that the
plan is for her to miss all of next season
and then come back for what would be her senior year.
(02:05):
I guess red shirt junior year and continue to play.
And with NIL and the WNBA salary structure, I would
have to imagine Juju can potentially make far more money
at USC than she would at the beginning of her
WNBA career, unless something drastically changes with the rookie salary
(02:26):
scale there. But this is just an ultimate bummer because
getting we got in the final four last year Page
versus Caitlin, and we were basically assured that we were
going to get Page versus Juju in the Elite eight,
(02:51):
and it was I talked about how I didn't love
that they put USC in Yukon in the same region
because that felt like it should be a final four
and national championship potential matchup, And it ends up that
it's going to be, and USC should still get they
should be able to win next round without Juju, but
not past that. They absolutely can't beat Yukon without Juju.
(03:14):
And you just feel sick for this young lady who
is has the real potential to be a true superstar,
a true crossovers not just great player. She's obviously going
to be well, she already is a great player, and
she and a torn ACL you know, is not career
(03:36):
altering the way.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
It once was, but.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
She needs a great NCAA tournament run just to catapult
her celebrity the way Caitlin had and the way honestly
Angel Reese, who no disrespect to Angel Reese, but Angel
Reese is not nearly the caliber of player of or
of Juju, or of Page for that matter, and they
(04:04):
have all had these great tournament runs.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Juju.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
This was going to be that this year, and if
not this year, next year and now out for I
would imagine all of next season, which is just such
an absolute bummer. And here is the thing about acls
the way I have seen them over the last decade.
(04:32):
Acls are different in that they used to truly be
career altering, and these days they are not. Meaning people
typically come back one hundred percent to their pre ACL
tear ability strength, speed, quickness, all of that, but they
are not quick injuries. It usually is a minimum of
(04:57):
a calendar year that you are out, and usually a
little more than that until you look like your old self.
So a huge bummer. Not really, this is put this
in the huge story not a great topic category, and
(05:18):
I mean that's kind of what it is. There's not
much to say. It's massive news, but it just sucks.
There's no real take to have. And so Juju Watkins
out and I have to you know, Yukons Now, I'm
gonna look it up on DraftKings.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I just can't.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Maybe you guys can put in the dock for me.
I mean, I know they're the favorite, but I just
wonder what they are now is Yukon women to win
that region, to win the region, I have to imagine
they are minus huge money. I'm not able to pull
it up right now. If you guys can road in
(06:00):
the dock whenever you can find it, just put what
they are to win the championship and what they are
to win the region, because I do not see who
possibly could stop them. Certainly now, listen UCLA South Carolina.
Those are legitimate championship level teams, but I Yukon's in
(06:24):
the final four and they're now plus one sixty to
win the whole thing. We can't find them to win
the region. But it's not gonna be I mean they
it's not gonna be much of a question. I saw,
I got the I had the privilege of watching the
Yukon women in person from court side seats thanks to Fox.
(06:46):
The game was on Fox beginning of the year, and
I left that game saying, I don't know how anyone's
beating them. Now, UCLA and South Carolina is obviously a juggernaut,
and usc had shown oh no, they're they're off that
and Yukon lost a few times. But I feel like
you can put probably in pen A Yukon UCLA final
(07:09):
four on your left side of the bracket, and you know,
thoughts with Juju. It absolutely sucks, just absolutely sucks that
she's done for the year and potentially done for next year.
One note, and I'm sure this will happen because Page
is such an awesome athlete and awesome person. From all accounts,
(07:31):
Page dealt with an ACL and missed a year, and
so I would imagine if she has not already, Paige
is going to reach out to Juju and try to
help her through it, but really really sucks for basketball fans,
for USC fans, for Juju. This episode of What's Right
(07:55):
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Bronnie James thirty nine, seven, four and four for the
South Bay Lakers last night against Santa Cruz. He was
a plus nineteen in his thirty eight minutes. It was
(09:21):
far and away his best game at the professional level.
And this is where I will as I have remind
everyone that twenty months ago, July twenty fifth or twenty
fourth of twenty twenty three, this kid suffered cardiac arrest.
It totally derailed his collegiate season. And that is evidenced
(09:45):
by the fact that he has now had ten professional games,
one at the NBA level and nine at the G
League level that are better than anything he ever did
at in college. And so when people pointed out, like,
oh my god, look at his college statline and that's
(10:07):
a player that you're drafting, it, there had to be
some math done on. Yes, his collegiate numbers were that
of a player that typically would not be drafted, even
late in the second round. But if you throw the
season away and say those numbers were due to the
(10:29):
fact that he never got his legs or his wind
underneath them because of the months he had to stay
away from the court because they thought he might not
be able to play basketball ever again due to a
congenital heart defect, then maybe, just maybe you saw some
traits that could be a successful player. And Kevin O'Connor,
(10:51):
who knows a hell of a lot more about the
draft and about college basketball than I do, tweeted to
me this morning that if they did a redraft today,
he thought Bronni would be a first round pick, and
that if Bronnie can keep up this shooting, then he's
a legitimate NBA player. And again, I am not trying
(11:14):
to make too much of the G League, which is
something we never talked about previously. However, because Bronni is
a star and because he has been the subject of scrutiny,
we have to be fair in that the expectation was
that in the G League with grown men, with a
(11:35):
lot of guys who were former first round picks trying
to make a career for themselves with a lot of
guys who had a lot more experience than him, with
a lot of guys who were much more highly drafted
than him, that he was going to it certainly in
his first year in the G League, really have his
(11:55):
work cutout for him now and more than his work
cutout for him potentially really strung. And instead he now
after not playing well in Summer League and not playing
well in the G League's kind of preseason I don't
even tip off tournament or whatever they call it, in
the G League regular season, he is now averaging twenty
(12:19):
two five and five on forty six thirty eight eighty splits.
That is a great value for your fifty fifth overall pick,
and shout out and credit to Brownie. And so we're
not gonna spend more time on that. But that was
in what missed the Cup, But he didn't actually miss
the cut.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We did a nice few minutes on it. Also.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
SVP my guy after Maryland finally gets on the right
side of a buzzer beater, tweets you know he's a
Dieyard Terrapin fan, and he tweets out never a doubt
as a wise man says, shout out Scott Van Pelt,
Ernie Johnson, Kevin Wilds the only three people in sports
(13:03):
media with one hundred percent approval ratings. And very nice
of Scott to include. You know, obviously my trademark tattooed
came up with first person ever use a phrase, never
a doubt. Very nice of him to use that in
celebrating an all time Marilynd moment. More on the tournament
(13:23):
in a second, and I guess that is one way
to put it. I did invite myself on The Kelsey's pod.
The Kelsey's tweeted should we have an NFL salary cap
expert on the show? And I just responded, I got you.
I'm you know that way it can be said because
obviously I'm a salary cap expert, but also we could
(13:44):
talk other things and it would be interesting because you know,
Eagles fans tend not to like me that much, but Jason,
I would imagine does I don't know, but if we
could get a What's Right with Nick Wright New Heights crossover,
that would have to be good for the burgeoning What's
Right brand, which, by the way, YouTube's like rate, subscribe
(14:07):
review on all platforms. YouTube just crossed one hundred and
ninety thousand, so we appreciate you guys for that. Where
the slow climb towards two hundred thousand continues, But also
we'd really like you guys to subscribe on either iTunes
or Spotify, wherever you guys get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
All right, some.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Quick listener questions. Noah says, do you see Dan Hurley
as the rich Man's Nick? Sirianni, that's listen. I think
that's on the board. Yeah, I mean I think that's
a good a good potential comp and Syrians champion now too.
But Syrian doesn't seem to think the media treats him unfairly. Oh,
(14:47):
the our producers say, maybe they're changing parts and pit stops.
That's maybe that's it. Maybe the cars are good pre
race than during the race. There are some shenanigans. Taylor asks,
why is achilles or an acls sometimes considered a two
year injuries consistently, but a literal heart attack isn't taking
the same understanding. That's about Bronnie. I think it's because
(15:10):
we look at things that aren't like physical injuries is
like binary, like is he okay? Is he allowed to
play again? Okay, then he should be the same when
in reality it's the time off that I think really
hurts these guys at times. Sixness says, what would it
take for you to get into hockey? How much skew
(15:32):
would you need to see in the Vegas books for
betting to be a thing for you during the NHL season?
I for the sake of my marriage, I don't think
I can pick up another sport that I'm into right now.
Maybe at some point in life, but I just know
so little about hockey. Can't see, didn't have a team.
I've never been into it, So I nothing against the sport.
(15:55):
I just I it's very very it'd be very, very
tough for me to tell my wife now, by the way,
also watching hockey, especially because I've kind of refallen in
love with baseball thanks to Bobby Witt Junior and the
Royals being legit again. Uh all right, Alex, is there
a single anything the Rockets can do? Our last tea
games make you believe that they can win a single round? Yeah,
(16:18):
to win a single round?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
For sure?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
There is stuff they can do. So because the Rockets
have a tough schedule, tough ish schedule, I should say
down the stretch, So the Atlanta Utah is their next two,
but then it's Phoenix who's on a four game winning streak,
Lakers Utah again, Oklahoma City, Golden State Clippers, Lakers Denver.
The Rockets play well during that stretch and hold their positioning.
(16:44):
I certainly could see them winning around. My fear for
them is they're gonna drop from the two to like
the four, and unless they are playing an injured Memphis team,
I don't think they could again. I think the Rockets
have had an unbelievable season as it is. They're gonna
win around fifty games. But for me to believe in
them to win around in the playoffs, they have to
(17:05):
show me more. And Scott says, what would it take
for tom En on the hot seat? They haven't been
a true contender since they lost to Jacksonville in twenty seventeen. Listen,
he's just got a contracts sension. I think the Steelers
have had three coaches in fifty years. I actually think
what could be best for the Steelers and for Tomlin
would be a fresh start for both of them. But
(17:27):
it doesn't He's obviously an excellent coach. I just don't
know that you can. I think he if he could
have gotten a job like the one Jim Harball got
where the quarterback is taken care of and you build
the rest of it up, that might be the best.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
And he just hasn't been able to.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Figure out the offensive side of the ball post Big Ben,
or even with Big Ben near the end. When it
comes to college basketball and mark Mania, one thing's for sure.
Nothing's for sure gonna be upsets. There's gonna be buzzer beaters.
We haven't had as many upsets. We just had a
sick buzzer beater, and theoretically Cinderellas should be advancing top
(18:07):
seeds going home early.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
It all could happen.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
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slash b ball. This is where I think stephen A
(20:00):
has made a grievous error. He just today he said, quote,
He'll smile on your face and stab you in the back.
That's why I don't like him. He's bringing up Wade's
Hall of Fame induction, Kobe's memorial. He's saying, quote, he
literally circumitted meritocracy in the NBA. Here's the problem, man,
(20:22):
and this is where by continuing to talk about this
and not allowing yourself to take the l you are
really putting yourself in a bad spot. You always claimed
you had no problem with Lebron. You always claimed he
only had a problem with you. Up until six weeks ago,
(20:43):
the stance was, oh, nothing but love with Lebron James. I,
you know, at a great person in the community, a
great this, a great that. I just I just think
he's not the greatest basketball player ever. I just think
(21:06):
he's only the second greatest player ever. And because of that,
he has a problem with me. That's been the public stance.
And now the guy makes fun of you on Instagram
and takes a couple jokes at your spense on McAfee,
and you're letting everyone know, actually, no, never liked him.
And so if the if, if we are going to
(21:27):
do a full, real telling of it. It then the
honest answer is, so why what's been the problem? Was
there something personal before? And the answer is no, Lebron
wouldn't talk to him.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That was the problem.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Lebron wouldn't talk to him or acknowledge him. And Michael
Jordan texts with him. That's it. It's the whole thing.
That's the start of it. And so I it is.
(22:13):
People ask me all the time, man, do you believe
what you say? And my answer always is, now do
I say it louder or more emphatically, or add some
spice to it or whatever? Do I dress it up?
Sure of course? But the reason and this is not
(22:35):
my quote, uh, but this quote is correct. If you
never lie, you don't ever have to remember anything when
you do as And I'm not acting like I'm someone
that never lies. I probably have a bit of a
I'm probably true character flaw of mine is I am
(22:56):
my most honest talking to you guys, friends and family.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I might you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
I might be like, you know what, I can dance
through the rain drops here a bit and clean this
up later. And that's not be honestly, it's self serving.
It's not out of some Woodrow and Burnstein, Woodward Woodrow,
Jesus Woodward and Burnstein journalism ethic. It's because I don't
(23:23):
want to have to. It is too difficult to do
this much content if you're having to remember, oh shit,
I said that, and if your stance forever, forever has
been I have no problem with that person, he has
a problem with me. And then the first time you
(23:43):
get pressed, you empty the clip about everything you've always
had a problem with. People are gonna say you're fucking
lying to us. You were lying to us, and I don't.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
And here is the.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Problem with people in general who don't have the ability
to take an l and who are very online, and
who are public figures. This applies to I guess some
(24:29):
of our actual politicians and some of our potentially would
be or want to be politicians. All you can do
is keep doubling, tripling and quadrupling down because you don't
have the ability to be like I was wrong. You
(24:53):
constantly are reminded of the in in and at hand,
and you are constantly reading people make fun of you
or rip you. So again, I am not trying to
(25:14):
act like I am some.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
I am. You know the silver bullet on this stuff. However,
I do have.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
One kind of just natural superpower, I guess, and another
decision I've made. The natural superpower is this, I am
totally fine being wrong, like, oh shit, got that one wrong.
My bad, not a problem. And the other one is
I don't read my mentions, so people are like, I'm
(25:43):
i am not finding my And at a third thing
I'm very good at I'm I'm on the right side
of the.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Great athletes conversation.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Like the other thing is like I you know, I
in the hey Lebron James good or overrated. I had
the foresight to be like, I'll go with good, you
know what I mean. I think I'll plant my flag
on good and see how it plays out over the
next fifteen years. And so that's been help that's been helpful.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
But I I.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Can't believe that this is how these last few weeks
have gone. And the fact that so here's the other
piece of it that's important demands on one one party
in this is fighting a war of war work. I
(26:40):
can never say that war of words, reminders reminder of
new people in the audience and young people. I as
someone who my only skill is speaking and arguing. Had
a really bad speech impediment growing up and couldn't say
my rs are my l's And now I do it
for a living. So I this is kind of a sidebar,
but just for you know, young people out there or whatever,
(27:03):
like you can get over anything. I shouldn't say anything,
but you can work on stuff and.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
It won't hold you back. Go ahead, No, I was
just flexing on you. No.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Well yeah, and we're world and girl. Anything that has
the R L next to each other like that. I
still struggle with a bit. And I've told this story
of nothing worse and not being able to say your
rs and your last name starts with a hard R,
and when it's not an R, it sounds like a
different word. You don't know how many times I went
(27:35):
to basketball camp as a kid, they're like, what's your name?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Nick? White? They're like, no, white, white, no white. It
was brutal.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Maybe that only happened once, but it.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
It seared me. It scarred me.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
The guy wrote down on my jersey right, and I'm like, no,
it's not white, it's white. Brutal doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I'm good. Now, here's the point I was making in
a war. Stephen A. Is fighting a war of words.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Lebron gets actually go out and play the games, and
he's still awesome. So think about it. In the couple
weeks since this all happened, Lakers had a winning streak,
Bronni drops thirty nine drops, a career high in the NBA,
(28:25):
has another good game the other night, bron last night
hits a game winner, And you have positioned yourself. I
can't imagine being this box stend. You have now positioned
yourself where any time you give fair analysis about a
(28:53):
good Laker game or Bronni or whatever, you're.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Gonna get ripped for that too. Like you are all.
You are so boxed.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
In and the guy, honest to God, So much of this,
as I've said before, so much of the toxicity of
sports media, across all sports and all our debates, is
actually about Michael Jordan and that era and that era
(29:27):
of people who came up in that era being like, man,
my childhood was the best, I promise like and not
seeing that every single human being ever, it's like, hey,
what's your favorite type of music? And for everyone it
just happens to be the exact type of music they
were listening to when they first got their car and
first were able to drive. Who are the best athletes?
(29:49):
And it's like, oh, it just happens to be for everyone,
myself included the athletes like we watched in our formative
years and then into a dulthood and not being able
to see that it's not special. It's just how human beings,
brains are constructed. But point is, this whole thing really
(30:12):
generates from MJ's my buddy. This guy won't talk to me.
I must, against all odds, support MJ's legacy.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
But MJ ain't playing anymore.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
You're never gonna be able to go on.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
The show and be like, ah, look what Michael did.
But this other guy won't fucking quit. He's he is.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
We are in a span of ten days, his son
almost drops forty in the G League and scores are
leads the Lakers in points in the NBA, and he
has a buzzer beater, And so it's just a war
you're not gonna win. And it's a war you're not
(31:05):
gonna win because I think because of your popularity and
success and talent, people of what enough people have watched
you for long enough that we know what the record says,
(31:27):
and we know you have always claimed you have.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
No problem with Lebron. He has a problem with.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
You, and then today you say he will smile on
your face then stab you in the back. That's why
I don't like him. Is that just in the last
two weeks literally circumvented the meritocracy in the NBA. That
in the last two weeks
Host
Nick Wright
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