What's Wright - Luka Doncic UNSTOPPABLE, Lakers star MVP? SGA or Jokic best in world? USMNT struggles | Nick Wright

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd – "What's Wright": Luka Doncic UNSTOPPABLE, Lakers Star MVP? SGA or Jokic Best in World? USMNT Struggles | Nick Wright

Date: April 1, 2026
Host: Nick Wright (with co-host Damanze)
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
Episode: 439

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Main Theme

This episode centers on the heated NBA MVP race, with deep dives into Luka Doncic’s case, the continued brilliance—and controversy—of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA), Nikola Jokic’s legacy, and some critical perspective on Victor Wembanyama's meteoric impact. The episode also pivots to discuss US Men’s National Soccer Team struggles heading into the World Cup and closes out with levity on NFL coach photo day shenanigans.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Greatest NBA MVP Race? – Historical Perspective

• Timestamp: 06:38-13:40

Nick opens by challenging the narrative that this is the greatest MVP race ever:

• Says, “Unequivocally, absolutely without argument, no.” The 1961-62 MVP race is singled out as the all-time greatest.
• Cites absurd stats: Bob Pettit averaging 31/19 and only finishing sixth, Oscar Robertson finishing third despite a triple-double season, Wilt Chamberlain averaging “50 and 26” in 48.5 minutes per game, losing out to Bill Russell’s 19/24 numbers.

“The greatest MVP race of all time ... is the 1962 NBA MVP race ... Oscar Robertson averaged 31, 13, and 11 ... Wilt, 50 and 26. Bill Russell, 19 and 24, and he runs away with it!”
— Nick Wright (07:57)

2. Luka Doncic MVP Debate: Rewriting Expectations?

• Timestamp: 13:45-22:00

Nick meticulously deconstructs shifting narratives around Luka and the Lakers:

• Reminds listeners that preseason expectations did NOT have the Lakers as a top team. Now, with 50 wins and a clinched playoff spot, he argues Luka is the engine behind their “overachievement.”
• Pushes back on claims Luka’s recent hot streak is new—he’s been elite all season except for an injury-hampered February.
• Accuses pundits of “moving the goalposts,” especially around defense: Luka is not horrible defensively, just inconsistent.

“People reframing what they thought the Lakers expectations were this year, that is happening in real time.”
— Nick Wright (14:33)

“Are we really now pretending that Luka just started having an awesome season? No. He was Western Conference Player of the Month for January.”
— Nick Wright (15:21)

3. Defense and the MVP Standard

• Timestamp: 22:11-29:25

• Damanze asks if Luka’s defensive rebounding should count for more: Nick agrees marginally, then points out MVP has always been “90% offense, 10% defense”—with rare exceptions (e.g. 1962’s MVP logic for Bill Russell).

• Criticizes arguments boosting Wembanyama’s MVP candidacy just because of defensive impact or low minutes played. “Wemby’s played 500 fewer minutes than Luka—that’s 16 more games at his minutes per game!”

“For us to, in real time, try to change what the historic qualifiers for league MVP are… it’s disingenuous.”
— Nick Wright (21:38)

“Offense/Defense split? Historically, it's been 90/10 offense/defense...It is not a fair argument to say I’m not even considering Luka because he doesn’t play both ends of the court.”
— Nick Wright (22:25; 24:11)

4. The Remaining MVP Candidates: SGA, Jokic, and Wemby

• Timestamp: 29:30-40:00

Nick breaks down how final games between favorites matter:

• Predicts the award will hinge on seeding—Wemby’s only chance is a Spurs #1 finish.
• Shea Gilgeous-Alexander (“SGA”) will likely win due to a consistent floor of 1st-2nd place votes.
• Jokic—would likely be a front-runner if he had “zero MVPs” already, but sentiment is against a fourth MVP in six years. Despite historic stats, team expectations and fatigue play a role.

“There have been instances where the guy with the most first place votes doesn’t win it ... I think Shea probably gets the most firsts and wins the award.”
— Nick Wright (30:00)

“If Jokic hadn't already won a bunch, he'd probably be the front-runner for the race.”
— Damanze (35:28)

5. Shea Gilgeous-Alexander and "The Art of the Foul"

• Timestamp: 40:04-47:32

Controversy erupts around SGA’s frequent trips to the free-throw line:

• Nick highlights SGA’s masterful, near-Harden-level manipulation of contact and rules, leading to frustration from coaches (“J.B. Bickerstaff ... he’s elite at what he does ... he’s mastered [the rules] to manipulate them.” – 40:17).
• The Thunder’s collective “smugness” and aggressive defense have become “enraging” to fans and league rivals.
• Draws contrast to Harden’s Rockets (“that wasn’t then paired with Harden’s teammates being able to mug Steph Curry and Kevin Durant”).

“He is pretty shameless in mid-play deciding ‘I’m no longer trying to score, I just believe you’re off balance enough to where I can draw a foul.’”
— Nick Wright (41:36)

“They are actively daring the refs to call 4, 5 fouls in the opening 90 seconds of games ... It’s a little Calvin ball, heads you lose, tails I win.”
— Nick Wright (43:38)

6. Who’s the Best Player in the World? Luka, SGA, or Jokic?

• Timestamp: 47:32-49:12

• Nick’s answer: Jokic is the best, Luka is better than SGA despite the latter's MVP and title. Calls SGA a possible “Steve Nash-type” MVP—great but not universally recognized as the league’s best.

“I think Jokic is the best player in the world. I think Luka is better than Shea ... Shea's won a title and an MVP. Luka's done neither.”
— Nick Wright (47:33)

7. USMNT Struggles Before World Cup

• Timestamp: 51:53-61:29

Nick analyzes the recent woes of the US Men’s National Soccer Team:

• Losses to Belgium and Portugal; Pulisic goalless; coach’s damning quote: “the difference is the teams we're playing have awesome players and we don’t.”
• Expectations are high due to easy group, expanded knockout rounds. But missing the knockout stage would be an “utter and total catastrophe.”
• Draws contrast with Italy’s soccer disaster—missing World Cups in ’18, ’22, and, after a loss to Bosnia, now '26: “the most mortifying decade in the history of soccer for a great soccer nation.”

“If the US misses the knockout round it would be an utter and total catastrophe … Losing its two warmups against European competition seven to two ain’t great.”
— Nick Wright (56:56)

“Italy, I can’t believe it … It’s a catastrophe. That is utter catastrophe.”
— Nick Wright (61:22)

8. NFL Coach’s Photo Day—Levity & Social Dynamics

• Timestamp: 63:20-66:30

• Story about Browns coach Todd Monkin missing the NFL head coach group photo due to a haircut. Nick riffs on which coaches the league would actually wait for—Andy Reid, maybe McVay (who also missed the photo!).

• Intended as a quick, light bit that exposes how little social capital some coaches have.

“What is the list of coaches ... they would wait for Andy Reid ... they would NOT wait for Sirianni!”
— Nick Wright (63:35, 66:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “He’s not ineligible to win and he’s having an awesome year … but Nuggets by a hair as a team have underachieved this year...I’m not worried about Joker not getting his fourth MVP in the last six years.”
  — Nick Wright (35:36)

• “It's the biggest sporting event in the world. You want people who are not necessarily following Serie A and the EPL to be super into it, and they are. So be a little more welcoming and a little nicer.”
  — Nick Wright, to gatekeeping US Soccer fans (52:10)

• (On Thunder defensive style) “You have Dort out there just hurting people. They are actively daring the refs ... It’s a little Calvin ball—heads you lose, tails I win.”
  — Nick Wright (43:49)

• “So there's no major comeback? Well, yeah, but, I mean, it's a generation where they don't even make the tournament.”
  — Nick Wright, on Italy's soccer crisis (62:22)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 06:38: 1962 MVP race/Why this isn’t the greatest
• 13:45: Luka’s MVP case, shifting expectations
• 22:11: Defense in MVP discussions, Wemby’s candidacy
• 29:30: MVP vote projections, seeding, Jokic
• 40:04: SGA, Thunder fouling controversy, league frustration
• 47:32: Who is the best player in the world?
• 51:53: USMNT crisis before the World Cup, Italy’s woes
• 63:20: NFL coach photo day prank—who gets waited for?

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Tone and Style

Nick Wright brings humor, sharp opinion, and a mix of statistical depth and storytelling. He’s self-deprecating about his sports gambling (“Bahamar ... maybe they’ll offer me a free room after my gambling failings”) and not afraid to call out media hypocrisy, shifting fan narratives, or soccer gatekeeping.

Damanze’s questions keep the discussion moving with occasional comic relief.

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Summary

This episode serves up Nick Wright at his signature best: debunking hot takes on the NBA MVP race, passionately defending Luka Doncic’s candidacy, calling out the moving goalposts for Victor Wembanyama, and shining light on how and why SGA’s rise is both deserved and infuriating. The show broadens its lens with a sharp critique of US soccer’s failings, illuminates the gravity of Italy’s World Cup collapses, and closes on a playful note dissecting NFL coach pecking orders.

A must-listen for NBA fans wanting clarity on the MVP debate and for soccer followers bracing for a rocky USMNT World Cup.

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Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Before we had AT&T business wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a 14 point turn to get back on route. A 14 point turn, an influencer even livestream the whole thing. Not good for business. Now with AT&T business wireless routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time. And the influencer did get us 53 new followers though. AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything. Every morning is another chance to enjoy your favorite cup of coffee with Nespresso Vertuo up effortlessly craft bold coffee over ice or milk. At the click of a button. Nespresso your coffee your way. Virtuo up [e-mail] welcome in the rare Wednesday what's right with Nick Wright episode 439. This episode. As always, all the episodes are brought to you. Oh my goodness. I try to say brought to you by my friends at Boost Mobile. I realized my Boost Mobile sign wasn't even on. There we go. Brought to you by my good friends at Boost Mobile. Little rusty, fresh off a we. You know, a little weekend in the Bahamas with the family as first things first was dark also. Demanza, good to see you. I was six hours into our trip. I was fairly certain I tore my ACL and somehow I'm okay.

[B]

It was all you tore your ACL in your good couple days later.

[A]

Well, I was good five minutes later. But in the. I'm talking about in the moment. I so the very quick and like rate subscriber view to the pod One of the reasons to be subscribed and to hit the bell and to get notified is because sometimes our schedule's a little weird. We try to do three shows a week but travel and things come up at times. And so that's what this week we're gonna do Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. So also I need a lot of sports news in the next couple days because we're going back to back to back. But point is this. So there's this great, you would love it. This great water park at Bahamar where I was staying and they have so they have like giant slides but then they have two like kitty water parks. One for little, little, little kids like 2 to 5 year olds and one for kids Deanna's age. Excuse me.

[B]

Bless you.

[A]

Indiana basically convinced me to play a variant of like hide and seek tag. And it was in the, it was the, in the little kid water park where so there's like four slides but they're all very you know, short slides. Yeah. It's got one of those giant buckets of water that fills up a little

[B]

jungle gym in the middle or whatever.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Right. And the ground is what some playgrounds are now, like that soft foam almost.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And whatever. The moral of the story is, we're playing for 20 minutes and I. And I see her and I try to make a quick turn and I. My knee goes sideways. I swear I heard and felt a pop. The other adults around gasped and I'm like, oh, my God. Like, this will not be the first time I've ever. I. 5 years ago in Aruba, on our first day, I was on like a. Basically a bouncy house in the ocean and trying to climb up on it to play with Deanna. I kicked something and is the glass right or. No. Sliced the top of my foot so bad. Yeah. That I had to. Then I. Then this is an all time bluff by me that your mom called. Deanna and her are still playing. They see my foot is grotesquely cut and I'm like, you guys stay. We just got here. I'll drive myself to the hospital. And your mom said, okay, which foot was it? And I drove. My. My. I. I drove. It was my left foot. I drove myself to the hospital, got stitched up, and then couldn't get in the water the rest of the trip. And I'm like. So I was like, I've done it again, but this is worse. But somehow, somehow I was okay. I guess I still. If I go from sitting to standing, I hear popping in my knee and it hurts. So I think I did something that if I were expected to play in an NBA game, would be a problem. But other than that, it was great. And yeah, I'm washed and so a lot to do. They also have a great sports book there and so I was able to follow everything. Yeah, it's nice place. Not only is this an unpaid endorsement, but I actually paid them quite a bit of money via room charge and the casino that they have. So the, you know, a lot of added value for Bahamar, which pays me nothing. But I do imagine given my gambling failings over the last 96 hours, will offer me a couple free rooms if I want to come back there. All right. Brought to you by Boost Mobile. Patrick Mahomes attends the Royals home opener. The Royals won a couple games back to back. They also their second game of the season were leading to nothing on the road going into the bottom of the ninth for the Braves and lost six to two. Something that is damn near impossible to happen, but it did happen. Mark Cuban won't stop talking about this. I regret who I sold to. I made a lot of mistakes in the process. I'll leave it at that. Also, fun fact, Luka Donut scored more points in March than Anthony Davis did as a Maverick. That's true. Look it up, folks. More points in March than Anthony Davis in his Mavericks career. And the Blazers selling for a four and a quarter billion dollars valuation. All right, let's get a let's get right to the polarizing topic of the day. Rachel Nichols catching strays. Jason Temp volume co co host is in the crosshairs. A lot going on the NBA MVP race.

[B]

All right, about two weeks remaining and the MVP race is getting spicy. So SGA is still their favorite at minus 300, followed by Wimy, Luka and then Jok. All with great cases. Two questions. Is this the greatest MVP race that we've ever seen? And why is Luca's case so polarizing?

[A]

Okay, so we will the, the, the main course of this is Luca the little Amuz bouche appetizer is is this the greatest MVP race we've ever seen? And the answer to that question is unequivocally absolutely without argument, no. Because there is it. I to be totally fair, I didn't do pencil to paper go through every MVP race to see if this one has an argument for second place because it didn't seem like a use of good use of my time because I knew it did not have an argument for first place. Because the greatest MVP race of all time and one of the most ridiculous is and we've talked about it once before on the show but we will talk about it once more here. The 1962 NBA MVP race is one of the greatest one of the greatest pages on the Internet. On the whole Internet, Al Gore's entire Internet. One of the greatest pages that exists is The Basketball Reference 196162 NBA Awards voting page where if you go there you will see that season coming in sixth in the MVP race, Bullet Bob Pettit who averaged a tidy 31 points, 19 rebounds a game. He got two first place votes. He came in sixth. Coming in fifth in that MVP race was Jerry west who averaged a nice and tidy 31 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists. Coming in fourth in that MVP race was Elgin Baylor who averaged 38 points, 19 rebounds, 5 assists. However, only played 48 games because he was in the military and could only play part time. He was try going back and forth between, you know, I don't know if it was the weekends he could play or the weekends he couldn't, whatever it is. But you know, while he wasn't in the US military, he was a part time basketball player giving you 38 and 19. However, third place that year was Oscar Robertson. The first year anyone in the history of the league ever averaged a triple double came in third. He averaged 31 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists. A nice tidy third and second place with only nine first place votes was Wilt Chamberlain who that season averaged 48 and a half minutes. Meaning he averaged more minutes than there were in the games because he never subbed out essentially the whole year and played overtimes. And while averaging 48 and a half minutes, he actually averaged more points. A nice clean for Wilt. 50.26 rebound a game average on 48 1/2 minutes a night. However, that was only enough to finish a distant, distant second to Bill Russell who averaged 19 points and 24 rebounds. Folks, I wasn't there. I can't tell you how it happened. I just know that happened. I know that Bill Russell, way to finish it off. Bill Russell ran away with it averaging 19 and 24. Will was 50 and 26, playing every minute of every game all year. The Big O averaged 31, 13 and 11. Elgin gave you 3819 while also serving the country and that. So this, this top four is pretty sick. It doesn't quite match up to the 196162 NBA awards voting. Now that that is taken care of and out of the way, we will discuss what is happening right now with LUCA which is bordering on a little insane. Okay. Because folks are in real time. I fear recreating the history of this season and also recreating their own belief in what these Lakers could be. Because going into the the Lakers have already smashed the over on their win total. Many people, smart people that I respect, thought this Lakers team would stone miss the playoffs. They already have 50 wins. They have already clinched a playoff spot. They are a huge favorite to be the three seed. They also have a very decent chance of finishing with a better record than every team in the east except for Detroit. Right now they're sitting at 50 wins. The Celtics are sitting at 50 wins and they have done that despite the fact that they made no major moves at the deadline. And Austin Reeves and LeBron James have missed a combined 47 games. Which means they have done that based on the overwhelming strength of Luka Doncic, offensive wunderkind. And there are two things happening with the LUCA MVP discussion. Three things actually. One Folks are pretending the Lakers were expected to be this good. They were not. And early in the year, when they were the 3 seed and Luca was averaging 33 a night, the discussion happening in real time was, well, they've beat up on some bad teams. They've gotten very lucky in close wins. The clutch numbers won't sustain. This team is not as good as its record suggests. Before the year, they were eight behind, almost universally behind OKC in projections. Okc, obviously. Denver, no problem. Houston, having added Kevin Durant. Minnesota. Yes, the Los Angeles Clippers were a much more popular regular season pick. Now they were not behind the spurs for most people because the spurs have greatly overachieved their expectation. And part of that is a testament to Wimby. No doubt about it. And that's just in the Western Conference, much less where they would stack up throughout the league as a whole. So that happened. People reframing what they thought the Lakers expectations were this year, that is happening in real time.

[C]

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[A]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Another thing that is happening in real time, people pretending like Luka just started having an awesome season. He was the Western Conference player of the month for January. Luca's month by month numbers this year are October. He. He started the year off averaging 45 a game. Okay, but that's three games in October. In October, he averaged 45 a game. In December. I'm sorry. In November. Pardon me, sorry. When The Lakers lost two games all month that he played in, Luca averaged 33, 8 and 10. That's December. That's November. Pardon me, December. When the Lakers weren't that good, and when Luka missed a couple games due to injury or just missed a couple games, he was down to 31, 7 and 7. Then January rolls around. He's player of the month with 34, 7 and 9. March was the one bad month. The Lakers were bad. It wrapped around the All Star Game. He was. He dealt with the injury and was 27 a night. And then March rolls around, and for the month of March, he's 38, 8 and 7. And the Lakers have lost twice. And if they gave away player of the month for March, I don't know that they do. I think they might combine March and April, but it would be him again. So, folks, pretending as if he just started being excellent is not true. Now, what is true is if you had asked me in mid February where he was, and I think we did it on this show in the MVP race, I would have had him sixth. In mid February, I would have had Shea. I don't know if Wimby was quite there. Shea, Joker, Jalen Brown, Kaden, Wimby, all ahead of him. So. Which is why I have not gotten on here and said he's clearly the mvp. Shea has been that consistently excellent all throughout the year and. But I do think Luka is gaining massive, massive ground. And the last plank of this is folks have simply overstated how awful his defense is. Is Luka Doncic a, an excellent defensive player? Obviously not. Is Luka Doncic a good defensive player? I don't think so. Is Luka Doncic one of the worst defensive players in the league? By no possible metric. Can you feel that now? Do. Do Lucas defensive Lowlights rank among the worst of any player in the league? Absolutely. The plays where he's just out to lunch defensively, yes. And that is a fair criticism of it. But my pal Manix talking about individual defensive rating as if that is a real thing, when it really isn't. That's a team in a lineup stat, I think is unfair.

[B]

And also how much he rebounds. Do you think it kind of reverses that at all? I mean, I shouldn't say at all, but like, I feel like the fact that he's such a good rebounder playing point guard, it should play a little more.

[A]

Well, yes. And I mean, that's been a big part. Ask Daniel about you look up the, the. The advanced metrics tell us that, you know, Bill Russell, you were great, but the greatest defensive big man of all time is Nikola Jokic. All of us know that's nonsense. But the reason for that is because the advanced metrics really value defensive rebounding ending a possession. And so I understand Luca is polarizing. Okay, I. I get that. I understand that Luka annoys people. I get that. And I understand that at times, Luke is his own worst enemy. I get all of that. But we are moving the goal posts on this player in a wildly unfair manner. The Lakers do not have a great defensive roster, and Luke is obviously a part of that. And they right now have tied with the clippers for the 19th best defense in basketball. And that's, you know, not very good. It is ahead of Denver, by the way, and it is improving and has been improving, particularly over the last month. But for us to, in real time try to change what the historic qualifiers for league MVP are, in my opinion, in service of one guy's candidacy in Victor when Minyama and against another guy's candidacy in Luka Doncic, which is an award that has never been 50 defense, 50 offense. Changing it up, I think is disingenuous.

[B]

Would you say that percentage of it that's defense, though?

[A]

Of course.

[B]

Like 70, 30.

[A]

No, of I listen, I think historically, if you look at the winners, historically it's been 90, 10 offense, defense. As far as what is valued right now. There are outliers and interestingly enough, one of them was the 62 MVP race where they were. There was a guy who averaged a 30 point triple, double, double double. A guy who averaged 50 a night, and then a guy who averaged 20. What was it, 19 and 24 or something? Yeah, no. 26 rebounds, 19 points. But he was so devastatingly impactful on defense that he won the award. Now, he also was a champion, considered the, you know, greatest winner in the sport. Had, you know, at that point Bill Russell had accomplished more than Wimby, which plays, you know, a bit of a factor into it. But there are guys that can change the rules on. All right, it's 90, 10 for other guys. But this guy's defensive impact is so overwhelming, so overwhelming that he should win the award. So I understand folks saying Wimby's defensive impact is just unlike everyone else's. That is a fair argument. It is not a fair argument to say I'm not even considering Luca because he doesn't play both ends of the court. Not if you voted for James Harden. Not if you weren't throwing your entire body in front of Steve Nash going first, first, second in MVP voting. Not if you were part of Steph Curry over LeBron multiple times. Don't, don't, don't tell me you're, you're weighing this on two way impact. And here's the other thing about Wimby's specific candidacy. You. It is in my, again, not always so humble opinion, outrageous to give him extra credit in the MVP race for how few minutes per game he's playing. If you want to give the spurs extra credit for how much of a contender they are. Because it's like, well, what about when Wimy is playing 38 minutes a game instead of 29 totally makes sense. If you want to talk about what this means for Wimby's upper limit potential about well what what about when he plays the minutes all the other candidates play? I'm all for that as well. There are a lot of things where Wimby's minutes per game should come into the conversation but his ability to win the MVP award is not one of them. When a stat that I think will absolutely blow your mind Monza and I want to get this exactly right. This year Victor win Benyama has played 90 fewer minutes than LeBron Victor when Benyama this year is 100th in the NBA in minutes. 100th now you can again say that means oh my God, he's going to win six titles and 10 Defensive Player of the year awards and the the spurs are going to be unstoppable. All of that. But what what I don't think you can say is what I don't think is accurate is the that Wimby's the gap between Luca's offense and Wimby's offense is 20 points created a game conservatively Lucas points plus assists versus Wimy's points plus assists. And there's more to it and I know all of a sudden Wimy's we've created a new term called roll gravity or lob gravity or something. It's like oh the corner threes they're generating. I've watched NBA for my entire life. I've never heard this term great. But the gap between so you have this size gap between Luke and Wimy's offense now you can say you have an even bigger gap between Luke and Wimby's defense. No problem. But is it is is Wimby's impact in 17:55 minutes his defensive impact that much greater to where it overcomes the fact that luka has played 500 more minutes the equivalent of for again at Wimy's minutes per game. 29500 minutes is an extra 16 games. It's not it's not enough for me and again if someone I think there are and I haven't even talked about Joker on this and we'll get to him in a second. If if someone makes the argues for here's why Wimy's the MVP nobody thought the spurs would be this good. He's so far and away the best defensive player in the sport. I I think that is a legitimate argument. Shay obviously has a legitimate argument Joker who we'll get to obviously as legitimate Argument. What I find so galling, and I probably overuse that word, is folks, a lot of folks are acting as if Luca does not have a legitimate argument. You're God dog, right? This guy, a guy who's averaging almost 34 a game for an overachieving three seed, who's second and third best player, both have missed a third of the season. That guy, every time, every year in NBA history had a legitimate argument for the mvp and Luke is not going to come close to it. And I think that's unfortunate. And so go. Go ahead.

[B]

You want to go to yokich? Oh, yeah. So over the course of the next two weeks. Yeah, we'll see five games where two. Where the two of the candidates of the MVP race will face each other. So first we got okc. They'll play the Lakers twice in Denver once. Denver will play the spurs twice and OKC once. And the spurs will play Denver twice. And then the Lakers will play OKC twice.

[A]

Yeah, those two times. Yeah. So listen, I think, I think Shay. One of the reasons I believe Shea is a huge favorite to win this award is. And we're talking more about OKC in a few. I think Shay has a floor of second place on ballots. So I think Shea is going to get firsts and seconds, and I think Wimby is going to get first, second, third and fourths. And I think Joker is going to get not a lot of first, but second, third and fourths. And I. And so I think that there have been instances in the history of this award with the guy with the most first place votes doesn't win it. That happened to Barkley. It's happened a few times. I think Shea probably gets the most firsts and wins the award. But I also think there's a world where Wimby gets the most first and doesn't win it because Shay's is all. All first and seconds with a couple thirds. Wimby is first, seconds, thirds, fourths. And that drags. That drags him down. I also just, I think that this only becomes a very close conversation if the spurs finish with the one seed. And I, I have just.

[B]

So you don't think in those games there could be any, any taking of the torch?

[A]

Well, the problem is the spurs don't play the Thunder fair. And the spurs did die. As Wimy mentioned, the spurs dominated the Thunder when they played him earlier this year. Wimy was playing in a couple of those games. Played like 20 minutes. Was not. Like was not the. Which again, all of these arguments could be arguments as to why they're going to win the title, all these things. But the MVP is not a hypothetical award. It's not well what they could have done and so I just don't Luka's in a weird spot and it'd be. I want to say one other thing about Luka and then we'll talk Joker it It's also really weird that he is treated this way despite the fact that he has been every year of his playoff career an absolute playoff killer. Just a killer is first year in the playoffs against what everyone thought was the best team in the league. Kawhi Paul George. Clippers in that playoff series as a huge Underdog puts up 31 9. I'm sorry 10 and 9. They lose in 6. His next year in the playoffs again against Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. He's being guarded 100% of his possessions by Pete Kawhi and Paul George he they lose in seven as a big underdog he averages 36, 8 and 10. His next year in the playoffs their underdogs in round two against the favorite Suns. He makes Devin Booker cry. Almost gives you 32, 10 and 6 that playoff run. They then missed the playoffs one year and his next time in the playoffs he carries the Mavs to the finals beating Shay, then beating Ant. And then last year obviously was. You know they he wasn't. He was 30 points a game in those playoffs in the one round against Tim Rolls. That was disaster for the Lakers. There's no doubt. No no way around that. But it's just. Is he a perfect player? No. Does he deserve more respect from the people and more and folks doing a closer introspection on Wait a minute. I didn't think the Lakers had any shot at contending. I thought the Lakers might miss the playoffs again. Not Nick Wright but folks out there they're the they've got 50 wins. They have the same number of wins as Boston. They. They are they've been the three seed a good portion of the season and are a huge favorite to be it. Braun has taken on another role. Austin suffered a major injury that the team is leaning heavily on deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart and Luke is just out there fire breathing every night. What's that worth? All right. Go ahead on Joker Jokic will average

[B]

a triple double and be the first player to lead in rebounds and assists ever if he hadn't already run a bunch. Do you think that he'd be the

[A]

front runner for the race if he had zero MVPs? Probably right. And listen Daniel put in this I, I'm not going to call it a whining question, but it felt a little whining from Nuggets fan Daniel when he says Jokic is leveled up every year. So is he just ineligible to win at this point? He's not ineligible to win and he's having an awesome year. And if folks want to make the case that Jokic this year is having a more impressive season than some previous years when I didn't think he should have been MVP and he won it, so be it. But they are any the Nuggets, I think by a hair as a team have underachieved this year. They have been awful in the clutch. They don't feel like frontline A list contenders at the moment. And Joker has three MVPs so I don't think people are when the three guys in my opinion ahead of him in the race four if you include Jalen Brown. I don't as far as ahead of Joker all have better records, all their team and you know, seems to be in a better position to win a championship. I'm not, I'm not worried about the fact that Joker, as great as he is, isn't going to, you know, get his fourth MVP in the last six years. I think, I think we'll all be okay on that. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet. Florida Sportsbook. Biggest weekend in college basketball is almost here. Round of four is set. National champion just days away from cutting down the nets. Now's the time to step your game up with daily dancing boosts. On Hard Rock Bet, you'll get a live profit boost and a parlay profit boost for the games. More ways to shoot your shot. More ways to cash in with boosted odds when the stakes are their highest. And those heart stopping zero on the clock moments, I mean we had one of them, one of the greatest all time. Not quite a buzzer beater, but as close as you can get in the end of Yukon Duke they still the the ones that are true buzzer beater zeros on the clock. They still pay. On Hard Rock Bet, they're handing out $25 bonus bets. And if a team you bet to win or cover hits a buzzer meter. Because when the lights are the brightest, every shot matters even more. If you haven't joined Hard Rock BET yet, now's the time to check in the game. New signups can double their winnings on their first 10 bets, max $50. That means if you would have Won a hundred bucks on your bet. Now it's 200, so don't sit on the bench. Download the Hard Rock Bet app today and get the party started. Payable and bonus bets. Not a cash offer offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida. Offered by Seminole Hard Digital LLC in all other states. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia. To play, terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call 1833 play wise in Indiana, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. Gambling problem, call 1-800- Gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia.

[C]

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[A]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. All right, Damanze, let's go to Shea if we can.

[B]

Yeah, SJ racking up free throws, per usual at a crazy rate. So the fans on Twitter are pissed. The players on the quarter pissed, their coaches coming out pissed about it. Here's J.B. bickerstaff after the loss in overtime.

[A]

I mean, he's elite at what he does, and you got to give him

[C]

a ton of credit for his skill

[A]

set and his ability, you know, to create those contacts and create those whistles. You know, they're rules for a reason, and he's mastered to manipulate them. So that's a talent, that's a skill that he's been blessed with. So I don't. We don't have to spend a ton of time on this, but I think it's very simple. And the reason this specifically, I think, infuriates otherwise, you know, neutral parties is the. It's a trio of factors that all seem to run in one direction, even though they contradict each other. And that direction is in OKC's favor. So on Shea, there is the fact that he has mastered that stiff arm better than any player since prime James Harden, and maybe more so than even prime James Harden. And while they waved off what would have been his game winner against Detroit on it, it feels like he gets so feels like he personally creates real non negligible contact a dozen times a game gets away with it so that irritates people. But then the irritation shifts to out being outraged when on the flip side it feels like he gets the benefit of any contact against him that is far less negligible than the contact he creates in if he's driving to the basket and gets hit at all he's going to the line. Added to that he he's pretty shameless in mid play deciding I'm no longer trying to score. I simply believe you're off balance enough to where I can draw a foul or make it look like I draw a foul. So you go from being a little annoyed at the push off to almost outraged at the calls he gets and then that then levels up to you know what I think I actually don't like this team for some when you add to it the way his teammates are allowed to guard everyone else you have door out there just hurting people. You they are the the. They are actively daring the refs to call 4, 5 fouls in the opening 90 seconds of games. They don't they set the tone and it feels like man it's a little Calvin ball. Heads you lose, tails I win like shake and push but I can't guard him and do it can tackle me. What the fuck. And so I the and then the

[B]

pressers like and even the way that it's discussed as far as SGA and the team like I just feel that they are very shameless about all of it.

[A]

And listen they're the champs. They're the champs.

[B]

They're so smug man.

[A]

And I just it is now it is noteworthy to me that they have not been nearly as dominant. They won the title don't get me wrong but they have not been a total postseason juggernaut while they've been a regular season juggernaut. So I do wonder how the game being officiated differently in the playoffs can affect them again. But it is I know people were frustrated with Harden style for years. Totally get understand that but that wasn't then paired with Harden's teammates being able to just mug Steph Curry and Kevin Durant and the I mean you could you could argue maybe P.J. tucker a little bit but so like so that's why people like Damante actively

[B]

dislikes the the the Thunder organization. Just not the organization but this you know this rendition of the Thunder.

[A]

I don't like I mean the you can say by the way they're one of the Few teams in sports that I'm okay with just saying I don't like. If someone doesn't like the organization because they stole that team from Seattle, they said they weren't going to move, and they moved them. But listen, Presti's obviously brilliant. Their coach is excellent. Shea is having another one of the greatest guard seasons ever. There's no denying any of that. He's done it without one of the reasons that I won't yet. We see we got six games left. I don't think Luca has yet caught. Shea is, yes, LeBron and Austin Reeves, 47 games, but Jalen Williams, his second best player, missed basically the equivalent. And so they deserve credit. But man, oh, man, they are enraging. Like, there's no, there's no argument that it. That it's a lot of people, fans, coaches, other players find them enraging, which is why, if the bracket holds, Daniel, be happy. America will be rooting for your big Serbian love, Nicola Jokic, in round two. Folks will be rooting hard for the Nuggets. Yeah. And the Nuggets would be very live in that series. Go ahead.

[B]

I want to ask, if SGA didn't have this weapon with the free throws getting to the line, do you think that he'd still be where he's at in the MVP candidate race or just period?

[A]

Well, listen, I. I think it's unfair. I think that's kind of an unfair hypothetical.

[B]

Because it's weird, right?

[A]

It also is. If he didn't have it, he would have, like, if this was called differently or whatever. He has shown he is such a smart and skilled player that he. Yeah, he would have just pivoted what he focuses on five years ago.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And so the I now, I don't think he's the best player in the world. I've never thought he's the best player in the world. And listen, I think Joker's the best player in the world. And. And this is where people are going to say, I can't. What do I. What's my proof on this? And it's just what I. What I believe. I think Luke is better than Shay. Yeah, they've. They've like. And listen, Shay's won an mvp. Shea's won a title. Luke has done neither. I get it there. Luke is actually by a couple months younger than him. They've played once in the playoffs. Luca won. I. I don't. I don't think that Thunder team, it's like, oh, man, put Luke in SGA spot. What happens to that team. There's, they're the favorite still. And, and like that team is actually built perfectly to deal with Luca's weaknesses as a defender. So I, I, so I, I think he might be in the category better than this player, but of Steve Nash where the guy wins back to back MVPs and it's not universally regarded as best player in the league. All right, let's, before we get to the Lakers win last night and then some other stuff and we'll probably do a bunch of football tomorrow because there's this crazy Jalen Hurts Eagle story that came out this morning that I want to get to tomorrow. Lamar Damanze might not be going to off season workouts.

[B]

Not great. I mean he's doing the boxing though. That's, that's good cardio.

[A]

Like, I mean, so I, it was the new head coach. It wouldn't be great. So we might get to some of the football stuff tomorrow and so, but there's more things we need to do. But first reminder, one of our new sponsors. Today's episode is sponsored by Ethos. You need to be ready for anything in life. And making sure you have a plan for your family in the event of unforeseen circumstances should be a top priority. Certainly the top of my mind as a parent. And this is, listen, this is a, it's a weird one because nobody likes thinking about dying or death, but especially if you have a family and especially if you are, you know, have young kids or really however old your kids are, if you're still one of, you know, the main breadwinners or providers of the family. Life insurance is something that we all need and it's something that if you can afford it is an easy thing to kind of remove some of that, you know, concern when you're laying your head on the pillow. And that's why Ethos is great, because it makes getting life insurance fast and easy, 100% online and super affordable. You can get a quote in seconds, you can apply in minutes, and you can get same day coverage. There's no medical exam. You just answer a few health questions online. You can get up to 3 million bucks in coverage and some policies are as low as 30 bucks a month. Ethos has 4.8 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot with over 3000 reviews. Help protect your family with life insurance through Ethos. Get your instant free [e-mail] right? That's E T H O S.com right? And again, I want on stuff like this, I think it's very important because this is an important thing, but it's also a real life thing that I'm very clear. Like the. You can get up to $3 million in coverage and some policies are as low as $30 a month. You're not going to. You're not going to get. But you probably don't need a $3 million policy for $30 a month. But just having something in place for what is potentially not a lot of money out of pocket can really make you feel better. So again, ethos.com/right application times and rates maybe very. All right, Damanze, we're going to talk a little soccer here for a minute.

[B]

Yeah. So the U.S. men's National Team lost 2 to 0 against Portugal in a friendly match yesterday. The World cup is two months away. Can we fix our problems now before

[A]

I'm getting very worried? And you know what? I also want to say something else real quick about talking World cup and talking soccer, because I, I was, I was updated over the weekend because we did a 26 players that will define the World cup countdown show on first things first Friday half hour show that some of soccer Twitter was none too happy with us. Like, oh, these guys talking soccer. These guys don't ever talk. So let me say this on the front end, soccer gatekeepers, it's the biggest sporting event in the world. You want people that are not necessarily following Serie A and the EPL to be super into it, and they are. So be a little more welcoming and a little nicer. That's first of all. Second of all, I am following that shit. Who was in person at Inter Milan's first home match as the defending Serie A champions? This guy. Great seats. Who? I won't name names. Who had dinner with one of the best defenders in Europe that same week. Talking soccer. This guy who used to have season tickets to the Sporting kc. Yes, this guy. We used to go. Those were fun, fun matches to go to. I was. I watched the single worst moment of LeBron's career, Game 5 Finals against Dallas at a bar across from a Sporting KC game. Because I was trying to be able to watch the sock go to the soccer game and watch the finals game. So keep your little talking to yourself, folks. I'm into it. And if someone who's into it, I'm here to tell you what a disastrous last 10 days for the US Men's National Team. We get absolutely clocked by Belgium. Portugal blanks us. Pulisic hasn't scored a goal for club or country this year. Our coach says, well, the Big difference is the teams we're playing have awesome players and we don't. What now you might be like he didn't say that, did he? He said the difference is we've been playing teams with top 100 players. We don't have that. That ain't great. And a little extra knife. Our group, which we got a huge benefit by being in if you're in the host country, they treat you as if you are one of the best teams in the they try to separate all of us be eight now it's 12 best teams in the world into their own 12 different groups. But what they actually do is they take all the best teams plus the host country and make sure they're all in all different groups. So the US plus Mexico and Canada, who did not necessarily deserve to be pot one teams along with England and France and Spain and Brazil and Argentina. We got pot one placement because we're a host country and because of that our group was looking pretty good. The not quite as good I think it was it, was it Canada or Mexico that got the absolute best? Mexico got probably no, it was Canada. Canada. It's them. Bosnia. More on why it's Bosnia in a minute. Qatar and Switzerland. So Canada got the nut high group draw. Mexico pretty decent. South Africa, Korea and Chechia. But the US was sitting there with Paraguay and Australia. Not bad. But with one wild card team and the one wild card team we didn't want to win was Turkey. Turkey A did win. So now our group just got harder. Now they've changed the World cup where to make the knockout round in instead of it being a 32 team tournament that 16 make the knockout round it's a 48 team tournament. The 32 make the knockout round so you can make the knockout round even if you don't finish in the top two in your group. The so the US missing the knockout round would be an utter and total catastrophe. But losing its two warmups against European competition seven to two ain't great. And the the expectation should be for the US to win its group, win its first knockout round game and then play in the round of 16 for a chance to get to just second quarter finals and modern soccer right now. I I we're an underdog in that spot. I don't love that now. Demons A it could be worse. We could be a different country. Go to Eric in the chat on that.

[B]

Yeah. Any comments on team Italy not qualifying for the World cup again as an honorary Italian?

[A]

I'm not honorary. I am Italian and I I Don't know what Italy needs to do on its developmental level, team, organizational level to stop what is I believe the most mortifying decade in the history of soccer for a great soccer nation. So let me just tell everybody Italy's history at this tournament because they've won it four damn times. Only Brazil has more. The first two times they were in it, they won it 34 and 38. That's pre World War II. And this isn't, this isn't a. Well, no, we'll get to the. We'll get to more contemporary stuff. You don't. We're not a history show. But if you know much About World War II, Mussolini in Italy on the wrong side of that one. And so we don't hold World cups in the 40s because of said World War. Italy is then, you know, call it reorganized a bit post World War II. And they go through a damn near 20 year drought where back to back World Cups, they get knocked out in the group stage, then they miss, then they get knocked out in the group stage. But then from 1970 De Monze until 2006, here's what Italy did at the World Cup. 1970, second place, 1974, they went 11 and 1 in the group stage, end up just barely missing out on the knockout round. It's devastating. 1978, they make it to the semis. 1982, they win it. 1986, they lose in the knockout round. 1990, they make it to the semIs. 1994, they lose in the final. 1998, they make it to the final eight, the quarters. 2002, they make it to the round of 16. 2006, they win it. So we are talking about Pre World War II, they win a couple, go through a rough stage and then 70

[B]

in the mix, in contention.

[A]

No. And then in the next 10, in the next 10 World Cups they win two, they lose in the final twice and they make two more semifinals. So six of the 10 from 70 to 06 they are in the final four. Four of the 10 they play in the final game and two of the 10 they win. Then in 2010, they get popped in the group stage, not winning a single game. In 2014, they get popped in the group stage, winning one game and losing two. And then in 2018, they missed the tournament. 2022, they missed the tournament. And 2026, in an expanded field yesterday, they lose to Bosnia in penalties to miss the tournament. It's a catastrophe. That is utter catastrophe.

[B]

It is really bad. What's going on?

[A]

They've won Four of these things. They're. Italy. I can't believe it. I cannot believe it. And it is unfathomable to me that this would. It's not quite as. It's. I can't quite say it's like the U.S. you know, missing the Olympics in basketball multiple years, but it's not that far from it. And again, I don't have the answer here, but I know that Roberto Baggio is not walking through that door. Francisco Todd is not walking through that door to save you. And this is. I hate it for Italy. I hate it. And so there's no major comeback? Well, yeah, but, I mean, it's a generation where they don't even make the tournament. You notice how everything keeps going up. Rent's going up, streaming services going up, your favorite burrito spots, charging you extra for things like salsa. That should just come complimentary. Not with Boost Mobile. Boost Mobile, you and your phone bill don't have to play the will this go up soon? Game. Why? Because Boost Mobile has unlimited talk, text and data plan at a price they'll never go up. In fact, same price you'll pay for life. So switch now for unlimited wireless at a price that'll never go up. Only at boost mobile, after 30 gigs, customers may experience slower speeds. Customers will pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan. All right, Damanze, let's go down to the April Fools thing before I give an update on the mailbag and how questions are going to work.

[B]

Yeah, so it's April Fools. You don't want to do any pranks, but you do want to talk about the Todd Monkin haircut story. So new Browns head coach Tom Monkin missed the coach's photo because he was busy getting a haircut. We've got a photo of it.

[A]

No, no, no, no, no. I mean, what was your reason? He was getting a haircut for the photo. And that made him miss the photo. I mean, you know, maybe a harbinger of another rough season for the Browns, but that's not what I wanted. Where I wanted to take this. Just quickly, my question is this. What is the list of coke? Because here's what nobody is saying, or at least that I've seen, but I know in my core is accurate. For some coaches, they would wait. It's a. It's kind of a dis that they didn't. They weren't like, hey, guys, maybe we shouldn't take it yet. So I'm trying to figure out the list of coaches like, who is worst coach that's good enough that they hold up the photo for. Okay, so, like, I. The. They definitely wait for Andy Reid. Yeah, they definitely wait for Andy Reid.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

I'm fairly certain they wait for Sean McVay. You. You want to throw a name out there?

[B]

I was about to say, I think I know Rabel. It's. He's fresh, but, I mean, he's been coaching for a while. I think Rabel, they wait for him, too.

[A]

So I don't think they wait for Variable. I think they think that Vrabel maybe, you know,

[B]

thinking he's above the program or something.

[A]

Hold on. So hold on. The producer telling me Sean McVeigh wasn't in it either. Why not? Did he do.

[B]

But wow.

[A]

The. Hold on. You producers can. If you guys. You guys can turn your mic or camera on or if you want to or just. Just be voice of God. What do we know why was. Why Sean McVeigh wasn't in it. Okay. Sean McVeigh coaches photo. You guys better not be wrong on this. Oh, no. So. So. But what. So did he just not want to do it? So that's. So I guess I'm wrong. You know, what I was gonna do.

[B]

But if McVeigh was, like, telling them he wasn't gonna take the picture, it's. I think.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Situation.

[A]

The. So I'm very surprised that they did it without McVeigh. Now. Maybe they knew McVeigh wasn't going to get there. I really was just trying to get to whether or not they'd hold it for Sirianni. And my answer to that is absolutely not. That was the whole. The. I had a whole thing that I was trying to build up to. To get to that punchline. But the fact that I was. I. My second pick of who they would hold it for wasn't even in there. You know, bad job by me. Blame it on the. My ties in the Bahamas. I should have been a little more buttoned up there. By the way, Kevin asks, will mailbag selections only be from live questions or will questions that come in after be considered as well? We. We consider everything. So YouTube live comment. YouTube live questions. Comments on the YouTube page. The. You know, on Twitter. We will. And so the producers on Wednesday nights, I guess tonight because we record these on Thursday. Send. You know, put 50 questions in the doc. I pick some of my favorites and we go from there. So that will be on Friday. All right. It's great to be back tomorrow. Tease for tomorrow's show. Jalen hurt story on ESPN.com Lamar's off season the the all of a sudden wildly important Western Conference 3, but more so 4, 5, 6 race. All of that and more on tomorrow's show. Huge thank you to boost Ethos and Hard Rock and as always, Blue Duck and and the Volume. Talk to you guys on tomorrow for another episode of what's Right.

[C]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[A]

Guaranteed Human.