What's Wright - Nick Wright REACTS: Eagles DRAMA, Hurts & Sirianni’s BROKEN relationship + SGA & Luka BATTLE for MVP

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd

What's Wright - Nick Wright REACTS: Eagles DRAMA, Hurts & Sirianni’s BROKEN relationship + SGA & Luka BATTLE for MVP

Host: Nick Wright (with co-host Damanze)
Date: April 3, 2026
Episode Highlights: NBA MVP Race (SGA, Luka, Wimby), Eagles Drama (Hurts & Sirianni), and NFL QB updates (Lamar, Cousins)

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Episode Overview

This episode of “What’s Wright with Nick Wright” dives deep into NBA and NFL storylines:

• The contentious NBA MVP race featuring Victor Wembanyama (Wimby), Luka Dončić, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA), with debate over media narratives and double standards.
• Analysis of the San Antonio Spurs' playoff potential and Wimby’s evolving game.
• In-depth reaction to a major ESPN report on Philadelphia Eagles dysfunction, focusing on Jalen Hurts and coach Nick Sirianni’s fractured relationship.
• Updates on Lamar Jackson’s offseason approach under a new Ravens head coach.
• Breaking down the reality versus headlines of Kirk Cousins’ new Raiders contract.

Nick maintains his characteristic mix of sarcasm, stats, and strong opinion, with Damanze playing off as a thoughtful foil.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Spurs’ Streak, Wimby’s Emergence, and MVP Narratives

(Spurs segment starts: 04:18)

• The Spurs have won 10 straight, with Victor Wembanyama dropping an astonishing 41 points in just 29 minutes in the last game.
• Nick is optimistic about the Spurs’ playoff chances, suggesting the low minutes-per-game is a management tactic, not a limit (“In the playoffs, let's assume he's capable of playing 35 minutes a game…” [04:30]).
• Nick’s frustration: Media double standard in MVP conversation, especially how high-volume scoring is praised for Wimby but critiqued for Luka.
  • Quote:

    "I've for the last month been told scoring 40 points and playing mediocre defense is no way to win an MVP...And now the Spurs win a game against what's left of the Warriors...and everyone's like, 'Holy, look at what Wimby did, man.' That feels like a double standard." [06:35]

• Damanze points out Wimby’s defense (3 blocks), but Nick notes that both the Bulls and Warriors outscored their averages against the Spurs recently, who abandoned their defense-first identity for splashy offense.
• The “role gravity” debate:
  • Nick mocks the way media justifies Wimby’s MVP case with advanced metrics, then swoons when he does what traditional MVPs do (score in bunches).
  • Quote:

    “He pops off? Certainly...but what I find hypocritical by folks covering the league is they're yadda yadda'ing Luka putting up 40 consistently for a month, and then going head over heels over Wimby doing it a couple games in a row.” [10:50]

• Nick contextualizes his own stance:
  • He likes Wimby, sees Spurs as legit contenders, but is tired of being cast as a “hater” for offering reasoned analysis.
  • Quote:

    “It's a skewed distribution...and me and maybe a couple others being like, yeah, right now, I think he's the fourth or fifth best player alive and his team could win the title. And people were like, you f---ing hater.” [14:40]

• Damanze compares Nick’s skepticism to his old take on Jokic, which Nick acknowledges (“I was flat wrong about him...I don't think there's anything I've said about Wimby that even has the possibility of being classified as wrong..." [16:39]).

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2. Lakers-Thunder Matchup & Western Conference Playoff Implications

(Segment starts: 20:47)

• The Lakers and Thunder are both hot; tonight’s matchup could shift seeding.
• Nick downplays Luka’s MVP chances, expecting him to finish fourth behind Joker.
  • Quote:

    "I don't think Luka has any shot to win MVP. I think it has become a two-man race..." [21:01]

• Lakers’ hopes in tonight’s game will suffer from missing Marcus Smart, their “best point-of-attack defender”—puts the onus on LeBron and, possibly, Bronny, who Nick shouts out for earning real minutes.
• Playoff seeding is highly fluid:
  • The Lakers could still fall to the 4th seed due to their tough schedule.
  • Spurs-Thunder 1/2 split is especially volatile; if they tie, the Spurs get the #1 seed due to tiebreaker.
  • Quote:

    “It's a really remarkable situation...the Spurs have won 10 in a row...the Lakers have won four in a row…Nuggets...Rockets...Timberwolves...none of the good Western Conference teams lose anymore.” [25:45]

• The Lakers’ reward for their hot streak might be a brutal series vs. the Timberwolves if Anthony Edwards is healthy as they battle for top seeds.

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3. SGA vs. Luka: Should They Campaign for MVP?

(Segment starts: 29:42)

• Damanze wonders if SGA “missed an opportunity” by not stumping for MVP more publicly.
• Nick breaks down why SGA should’ve made his MVP case, using historical stats to argue how rare his season is (30 PPG, 55% FG on a 60+ win team—typically an automatic MVP).
  • Quote:

    “Every single guy at any position who has scored like this and [whose] team has won, you know...had 20 or fewer losses...has won MVP. But have you seen his role gravity?” [34:50]

• For Luka, Nick thinks a public push would hurt rather than help, given current media sentiment.
  • Quote:

    "I think if Luka made a case for himself...people, it would have hurt him." [31:24]

• Nick admits (reluctantly) the numbers and precedent favor SGA, even though he considers Luka the better overall player.

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4. Eagles’ Dysfunction: Hurts & Sirianni’s Fractured Relationship

(Segment begins: 36:12)

• ESPN’s exposé reveals deep fissures between Jalen Hurts and coach Nick Sirianni, as well as locker room splits involving A.J. Brown.
• Nick emphasizes how rare it is for a story like this to come out with so many internal sources—especially compared to organizations like the Chiefs or Bills.
  • Quote:

    “You’re just, you’re not going to find three people, much less double digit sources, that are going to be like, 'here's the problem with Patrick.' This story can’t exist in Kansas City.” [36:27]

• Main takeaways:
  • A.J. Brown’s willingness to voice frustration actually helped his locker room standing—others agreed with him.
  • Hurts is criticized for refusing to adapt his QB style (resisting under-center snaps, play-action, motions).
  • Bombshell: Hurts audibled or drew up his own plays (e.g., a deep shot in a late-game Packers loss) on his own initiative, undermining staff decisions.
  • Critique of Hurts’ leadership: He emulates Kobe/MJ’s ‘hard-edged’ style, which only works if you’re unimpeachably elite.
    • Quote:

      “I don't know that Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan's leadership styles were good. I think they were effective for them specifically.” [43:02]

    • Patrick Mahomes’ inclusive leadership is offered as a contrast.
  • The Russell Wilson parallel: Hurts, like Russ, must evolve now that his dynamic mobility is declining.
    • Quote:

      “If the running is not going to be as big of a part of your game, you...gotta get better as a precision, fully-developed passer or...lean into the running more like he used to.” [45:00]

  • Sirianni’s “hot seat” remains; Hurts’ job security is tenuous for a recent Super Bowl MVP.

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5. Lamar Jackson’s Voluntary Workout Absence Under New Coach

(Segment starts: 50:31)

• New Ravens coach Jesse Minter was non-committal about Lamar attending voluntary OTAs.
  • Quote:

    “He said, 'We'll see who walks in the door.'” [50:31]

• Nick’s longstanding policy: Never blasts QBs for skipping voluntary work—except, perhaps, when there’s a new staff or QB is coming off a down year.
• Lamar almost never attends such sessions but, Nick notes, he always shows up well-prepared and in shape.
• However, coming off “his worst season,” a coaching change means this is “the offseason to show up.”
  • Quote:

    “I think it's really weird that the new head coach Jesse Minter seems to just be resigned to the fact that he doesn't expect him there.” [53:56]

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6. Kirk Cousins’ Contract with the Raiders—What’s the Real Deal?

(Segment starts: 55:22)

• Nick details how NFL reporters use misleading contract headline numbers (fake years/options).
• Praises Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter for clear reporting this time:
  • In reality, Cousins gets $20 million fully guaranteed for 2026, with a two-year, $80 million option.
  • Quote:

    “It's a one year $20 million deal. Everyone understands it because our two biggest NFL transaction reporters nailed it. Guys, I can't—I'm not ready to say my work here is done, but I do feel like we're moving towards a better, more informed public, which has been my goal.” [59:10]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Nick on media Wimby bias:

  “If you were to read out every Wimby take I've had since he's been in the league...I have found myself as, like, the most negative Wimby guy in the media—because I am just pretty positive...” [14:15]

• On LeBron/Bronny:

  “Their best point of attack point guard defender without Marcus Smart is probably Bronny...shout out to Bronny for getting real minutes in real games.” [22:55]

• On Hurts’ self-determination:

  “This article revealed they just called that on their own...Jalen will occasionally just call stuff on his own or draw up routes essentially on his own. That was not what they practiced or what the play design was. Man, if you're going to do that, you need to have higher success rate...” [39:24]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 04:18 – Spurs’ Streak, Wimby’s Offense, and MVP Narratives
• 20:47 – Lakers-Thunder Preview and West Playoff Race
• 29:42 – Should SGA/Luka Campaign for MVP? Case-breakdown
• 36:12 – Eagles Dysfunction: Hurts, Sirianni, A.J. Brown Deep Dive
• 50:31 – Lamar’s Voluntary Workouts & New Ravens Coach
• 55:22 – Kirk Cousins’ Contract: Real vs. Headline Numbers

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Conclusion

This episode epitomizes Nick Wright’s brand: challenging prevailing sports narratives, revisiting his older controversial takes, and interrogating media double standards. He weaves together NBA MVP intrigue, NFL quarterback power dynamics, and the evolving calculus of leadership and contracts—all with lively, stat-supported debate.
If you like your sports commentary bold, analytic, and a bit sardonic, this episode is a must-hear.

Transcript

[Podcast Announcer]

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[Nick Wright]

Welcome in what's right with Nick Wright episode 440. This episode of what's right with Nick Wright, as always, is brought to you by my great friends at Boost Mobile. Damanze. Great to see you. Every time I see you, I am, I realize, oh, I bought Damanze a really cool jacket in Japan that I need that I have not shown you or sent you yet. It's about to be summer in la, so but I don't know, maybe on a rainy day. President yeah, something I do need to get along, get around to that. A lot to do as we have a reminder for everyone and maybe we can get some late additions right after we get done with this show. Daman and I are sticking around and we are recording Mailbag episode. That Mailbag episode will come out tomorrow. We have some great questions already. Too many questions for one episode. So we, you know, we, we're keeping an archive of them but you can also submit some today. Maybe they'll make tomorrow' Mailbag, maybe they'll make one in the future so you can do all that reminder everybody like rate, subscribe, review the channel. The subscriptions are really what do help us on the audio side and on the YouTube side they help us more than you guys probably know. So now that that is all out of the way, we will get to straight to voicemail. Brought to you by the wonderful folks at Boost Mobile. Kurt Cousins signs with the Raiders. I like this for them. I think that this makes it to where they don't have to throw Fernando Mendoza right into the fire. That they can have stability at the quarterback position for, you know, the first few weeks of the season. If they don't want Mendoza to be the rookie week one starter.

[Damanze]

Very similar too.

[Nick Wright]

Mendoza personality for sure. Yes. I feel like it'd be a good guy personality. I think they are. I think they are. I know Kirk is and I think I know this about Mendoza. Both very deep into their faith. Yeah, I mean I think that is a really good fit. Seem to have great dispositions for those two guys and everybody. You know, when you have a number one pick of the draft, you obviously hope for hall of Fame, MVP, Super Bowls. But if Fernando Mendoza ended up having at the end of his career, Kirk Cousins regular season career, you'd want a little more playoff success. That's a probably above average outcome. Even for a number one overall pick. So, you know, it's a guy who had a lot of success for multiple teams coming in and mentoring him. I didn't see this story which why I missed the cut. Tom Izzo was considered for the Sun's job and he considered the Sun's job. And I mean it's not shocking because ISHB is a Michigan State guy. It's also not shocking that Izzo didn't want to leave Michigan State and Artemis 2 departs for the moon. This, you know, so a little behind the scenes here. Daniel, our resident Nuggets fan, typically is on the controls on the show. Daniel's boss is Matt Ford, who used to be on the controls for the show. Matt Ford also has, I will call it a unhealthy obsession with alien life and outer space and he really wanted to get me on a tangent about the original moon landing and us going back. I saw right through that. Matt, we have too much to do here. Damanze, let's get right to the show.

[Damanze]

The spurs of 1:10 straight and Wimy continues to prove his point with 41 points last night and 29 minutes. Do you expect this performance to drop off come playoff time?

[Nick Wright]

So here, listen, I think there are a lot of reasons to be very optimistic about the spurs and about when be come the playoffs. And I think that is where the 29 minutes a game thing can really factor in. Where it's like, all right, in the playoffs, let's assume he's capable of playing 35 minutes a game, that the 29 minutes a game is, you know, more of an artificial cap than an actual cap, then more minutes with Wimby on the court, more great defense, the scoring goes up. All of that I think is a reason to think the spurs are very, very dangerous and that if the spurs can be the first team since Bill Walton's Blazers to have playoff experience, not matter that they have all they check every other box of a team that could win a championship. That part I think is legitimate, fair, smart, cogent analysis. With that said, Damanze, I'm going to get radicalized. It's not going to be it's going to be a little Wimby's fault and it's going to be a lot the media's fault if I get radicalized on Victor when Benyama because I have for the last month been told scoring 40 points and playing mediocre defense is no way to win an MVP and that and that this and now the spurs win a game against what's left of the Warriors. A Warriors team that had to have in the first quarter a guy shoot a free throw with his offhand because they didn't have enough healthy players. They're out of two ways. They're like, you know what? Sorry pal. Who was it? I don't even remember who it was but one of their guys was shooting with his left hand. They warriors team that had your old AU teammate LJ Crier played 23 minutes last night and be their second leading scorer fresh out the G League shout out LJ by the way, that team scored 113. Wimy had the spurs, you know, understandably played a we're going to outscore you style of game. And everyone's like hold. And everyone's like holy, look at what Wimy did, man. That feels like a double standard.

[Damanze]

Hey man, he still recorded, still recorded three blocks.

[Nick Wright]

No, listen and he's, he's obviously, obviously the best defensive player in the league. But the last two games when people are like look at Wimy a tanker and an and a de facto tanker because they don't have staff. The Bulls and the warriors put up well above their median points for the year. 114 and 113 and the, and the and the spurs won with Wimby focusing far more on his offense than his defense. And everyone's like this is why this guy's unstoppable. And I'm watching it and I'm like I thought that's what you're not supposed to do. I thought in 2026 the path to MVP was a nice tidy 25 points and holding your opposition in the 90s not point explosions. Because listen, I'm old fashioned. I like a nice 40 point game. I think they're valuable in professional basketball. I like seeing Wimby go out there and just have Draymond Green threaten him to your dare him to shoot and he's like okay, I'll shoot. I'll take these mid range jumpers. I'll do that. No problem whatsoever. But it the there is that the a lot of stupid memes that come to mind when I look at the reaction to Luca averaging 40 for a month and Wimy scoring 40 in backto back games against awful opponents. And so I, I, I am, I am a little it Conflicted is the wrong word. There's two things happening in my brain simultaneously. One is I believe the spurs can win the championship and I believe Wimby is only going to get better. And I also think his disposition is one that will likely suit him Very well come the playoffs and that I don't think the playoff stage is going to be too big for him. So I believe all of that. And I also believe that him opening his campaign for MVP by saying, and the third prong of my three prong platform is there's more to offense than scoring. And everyone in the media being like, he's right, you know, have you heard of roll gravity? And then he scores 40 in back to back games and everyone in the media is like, what can't this man do that to me feels. I don't know.

[Damanze]

You don't think it's kind of interesting, the timing of how Wimby has said everything and then now he's focused on offense. He can do it. He clearly can do it. And it's like he can clearly do it on the defensive side. It's like, oh, if I want to play offense and drop 40, I can. But if Luka wants to play defense and be dominant and do whatever, he probably couldn't be decided to.

[Nick Wright]

So I don't listen. I don't know if Wimby not. I don't know. I do know that Wimby, at least as of yet, cannot consistently do what Luca or Shea or Joker, any of the three do on offense. Now can he pop off? Certainly. And is his ceiling right now higher than his 24 point per game average? Obviously, I think all that's true. And can Luca do. Can anyone do what we can do defensively? No. All of that is definitionally true. What I find hypocritical by folks covering the league is their yadda yadda ing Luca putting up 40 consistently for a month and then going head over heels over Wimby doing it a couple games in a row. In, in games where his team, you kind of went away from their identity of this lockdown defense, egalitarian style of offense because he's gunning for an award like that. Again, I, I don't necessarily have a problem with guys gunning for awards. I have a problem with a media that has never liked that and you know, went after Ross when they're like, oh, he's triple double hunting. You have heard different. Went after Embiid when the. He was like, oh, he's doing all of this just to win the mvp because it mattered to him later in his career than Wimby is, obviously. And now Wimby is transparently doing it. And then after the game's talking about doing it goes on with Scott Van Pelt and he's like, yes, it's very important to me and everyone loves it. That to me is just, it's just odd. And so I, again, I don't, I don't, on a principled level, I don't even necessarily dislike it because I don't mind. I understand pro athletes. I understand anybody in competitive endeavors being like, I want to be recognized as the best. I want to go do things to where my accomplishments grow and grow and grow. I, I actually get that and to a degree relate to it. But this, so this has never been covered like he is being covered. Particularly for someone who, even if we all believe eventually he will, as of this moment has accomplished very, very little. And that's, that's all that I am saying here. And so listen, we'll see. And I whether I like it or not, because, and it's not. You can call the full transcript of every wimby take I've had since he's been in the league. And if you were to read it out, aside from maybe some harsh commentary when he and Chris Paul cheated in the skills competition, I don't think I've ever said anything actually negative about him. Now, I didn't pick him to win rookie of the Year because I didn't think he'd play the 65 games needed. And I thought Scoot would. You know, the Scoot take is, you know, not aged well. But because my commentary surrounding Wimby has just been pretty positive, I have found myself as like the most negative wimby guy in the media because I am just, because I am just cons pretty positive about about his MVP chances this year and some of his quotes and all these things. I am. It's a skewed distribution. It's, you have 60% of the folks somewhere from putting him as a deity to future goat to already the best player in the world. 30% of the folks being like, man, he is. We've never seen anything like him. And he'll probably win a combined 20 defensive player of the year MVPs and championships and me and maybe a couple others being like, yeah, right now, I think he is the fourth or fifth best player alive and his team could win the title. And people were like, you fucking hater. It's a really, really interesting setup. The likes of which I, I, I'm not, I, I'm not familiar for the

[Damanze]

comp for this could turn into like a Jokic type of thing. Man, you are, you weren't. You were a little bit more negative on Yokage with yeah, no Jokic.

[Nick Wright]

I was here's the thing on Jokic. Jokic. My Jokic MVP opinions I stand by because it felt like we were changing the rules on the the boxes you have to check to win a MVP and then multiple MVPs. So I stand by those. But I was stone wrong about how great of a player he was going to be and maybe already was right. Right. I was. I was flat wrong about and I was far more negative about Joker. Like I was just wrong about him. I don't think there's anything I've said about WIMBY that even has the possibility of being classified as wrong because I haven't put a ceiling on what he's he can be. I haven't. I haven't said, well, here's the reason he's actually his defense is overrated. I'm not doing But I'm also not trafficking in the space that so many of my colleagues are, which is giving him credit for in this MVP race. For hypotheticals. Well, what if he played more minutes? What if he took more shots? What if he focused more on the offensive end? That. That. Those are great questions to ask about can the spurs win the title? Those are wholly and entirely irrelevant questions to ask when it comes to who should be the 2026 NBA MVP. All right, speaking of the 20, my top two MVP candidates play tonight. We'll discuss that in a second. But first, a reminder. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet, Florida's sportsbook. The biggest weekend in college basketball is almost here. The round of four is set and national champion is just days away from cutting down. Pardon me, from cutting down the nets. Now's the time to step up your game with daily dancing boosts. On a 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 at their highest. And all those heart stopping zero on the clock moments we've seen all tournament, they still pay. On Hard Rock Bet, they're handing out $25 bonus bets. If a team you bet to win or cover hits a buzzer beater. Because when the lights are 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 of $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 Rock Digital LLC in all other states. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. To play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call 1-833-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 and Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show. Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this your first date? Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. All right, Namanze, let's talk about tonight's Lakers Thunder game.

[Damanze]

LA and okc, two of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. They face off tonight. Luka will have a chance to even his odds with sga. Maybe pass them up a little bit. We'll see. How telling will this game be for both teams?

[Nick Wright]

Listen, I don't think Luka, I want to be clear. I don't think Luca has any shot to win mvp. The I think that the he is. It is. It has become a two man race and I think Luke is likely actually to finish fourth to finish behind Joker. And so I don't if he's in a weird spot where if Luca win, if Luca plays great and they win tonight, it oddly actually might just help Wimby more than it helps him because then the spurs are only a game out of first place. I do think I tonight I would anticipate the Thunder. I would be very surprised if the Lakers win tonight because and this is how precarious they are their, their ability to go on a deep playoff run is I think they would be better off being without I think the third. Let me rephrase it. I think in a series against the Thunder or a game against the Thunder, I think the third most important Laker is Marcus Smart. I think against this team, I think it goes Luca Braun Smart. Even though Austin is over the entirety of the season, a more critical piece and a better player certainly obviously at this point in both of their careers. If they didn't have Austin tonight then Braun just assumes that role and takes on more of the offensive workload. Without Marcus Smart they just have nobody with a shot to guard SGA like the their best point of attack point guard defender without Marcus Smart is probably Bronnie. Now maybe there advanced Jared Vanderbilt.

[Damanze]

Jared Vanderbilt, but he hasn't really.

[Nick Wright]

I mean I I think of him more as a wing defender but yeah, you would put him out there before but. But they're just so thin on that front and by the way we have talked about it shout out to Bronnie for getting real minutes in real games. And also you know I again I don't know if Al Horford sister or my pal Stephen A. Are still you know, so desperately concerned about that young man and the other young men who were, you know, snubbed in the draft. But the Lakers had two picks in that draft. A first rounder named Dalton Connect and a second rounder named Bronnie James. And the second rounder is all of a sudden at the fringes of their rotation and the first round or Dalton Connect just put up an absolute stinker in the G league last night in a it was either the playoffs or the last game of the regular season and he looks like he is a G league player for the foreseeable future. But that's neither here nor there. Here though is what is interesting about this game demands a and about the ramifications of it and the more I think about it, maybe this is a positive for the Lakers. I'm not. I've been trying to. I've been thinking about this all morning and I've kind of gone back and forth. If the Lakers lose, it makes OKC far more likely to stay in the 1 seed. OKC gets another win. They have, you know, they still have that two game cushion. Really one game cushion a game and a half on the Spurs. If the Lakers win, it obviously makes it more likely the Thunder are the two and would be the Lakers second round opponent. But I guess if they win this game in OKC without Marcus Smart, maybe they feel okay about that matchup. Like the I have been operating under the belief that the Lakers would far prefer play San Antonio than OKC in in round two that the discrepancy in playoff experience would be such an edge for the Lakers that they could overcome the spurs depth potentially. Now the spurs would be the favorites in that series and I might pick the spurs in that series, but the There is, it's, it's such a unique spot in the Western Ravens playoff race. Now, the other side of this is, and we're going to get to this in, in a moment, if the Lakers lose their hold on the three seed becomes a little more tenuous because as by virtue of all of the tankers, none of the good Western Conference teams lose anymore. It's a really remarkable situation we have where the Thunder, if we just look at last 10, the Thunder of one three in a row, and they're nine and one in their last 10, the spurs have won 10 in a row. They're 10. And oh, in their last 10, the Lakers have won four in a row. They're nine and one in their last ten. The Nuggets have won seven in a row. They're eight and two in their last 10. The Rockets have won four in a row after kind of, you know, falling apart for a bit there, they're six and four in their last 10. And the Timberwolves without Anthony Edwards, they won their last game, but they are 6 and 4 in their last 10. Which is why despite the Lakers being on this crazy run 15 and 2 in March, they haven't really gained separation from anybody. Yeah, they, they, they absolutely could drop to the four. And yeah, I don't think it's possible or realistic. They dropped to the 5, but Denver could catch them. And so Denver, but, and again, it's Denver's next game is against the Spurs. And so it's very hard to handicap what the playoff matchups are going to be because one versus two is totally in flux in Spurs, Thunder. The spurs have two more losses than the Thunder, but if they finish with the same record, the spurs get the one seed. So that's a game and a half difference. And Lakers have the tiebreaker with everyone beneath them. Nuggets, Rockets, Timberwolves. But the Lakers also have, of those teams, the toughest remaining schedule with two games left against okc, plus a game against Phoenix and a game against Golden State where maybe Steph is back. So if my, my guess is the bracket ends one through four the way it is right now, OKC 1, San Antonio 2, Lakers 3, Nuggets 4. And then the one flip is right now, Houston's five and the Timberwolves are six. I think that flips, but if it doesn't, that's not exactly like, you know, the Lakers gift of getting the three seed is Minnesota in round one, which, assuming Anthony Edwards is back for that series, that was around one series last year. And you Know, we, the Timberwolves, annihilated the Lakers. Now, that was Lucas. One bad playoff series of his whole career. All right, let's damanze. I know I bounced around here a little bit. Let's go back to the Luke and SGA MVP stuff for a minute.

[Damanze]

Yeah. So Luke and SGA both chose not to boast about their mvp, about the MVP race. Do you think that that was a mistake?

[Nick Wright]

I think it was a mistake by sga because I think SGA could have put out a case that he would have been allowed to put out because he is the defending MVP and they're the defending champion. That would have felt pretty bulletproof, I think, if SGA came out and said, listen, I. We've been the best team in the league, wire to wire. I am. This is my fourth straight year averaging more than 30 as a guard. I am shooting a career high from three and, well, a second career high, I guess, from three and 55% from the field. I also lead my team in assists, and we, as a whole, take, you know, massive pride in our defense. Like, what more would you like me to do? I think people would have. Even if the fans were like, stop Val. Baiting. I think the media would have responded well to that. I think if Luca made a case for himself to be the mvp, people, it would have hurt him. I think people. Go ahead.

[Damanze]

Yeah. I mean, how people feel about Luca right now. Yeah, they'd be really mad about it.

[Nick Wright]

And so I think sga, I think it might have been, you know, useful to SGA to be like, hey, pull up the guard seasons. With my level of scoring and my level of efficiency. Like, just let me see them. Let me see. And you know what?

[Damanze]

And you put a little back.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, But. But the. Sure. And, you know, I should have done this. I'm making the case for him, but I'm going to. I'm actually going to check that myself right now. The seasons in NBA history where someone has averaged 30 a game on greater than 55% from the field. I can look that up easily, actually. So I'm just going to do it real quick. 30 a game on 55% from the field. Okay, Here is the full list of seasons in NBA history in, you know, from oldest to youngest, so to speak. Kareem did it three times. He's obviously a center. Adrian Dantley did it four times. How tall is Adrian Dantley? Adrian Dantley was. I would consider him a wing, but he wasn't a big. So Adrian Dantley, I think. I think he Was like six. Six. But he was. He played small forward when he was doing it for the Jazz. Carl Malone did it once, Giannis did it three times, and Shea right now. So depending on how. And I'm going to go. Depending on how you of consider. No, Adrian, I'm right. Adrian Dantley, if you go to his basketball reference page for all 15 years of his career, is listed as a small forward. So it's been done by a center, a small forward, two power forwards, and Shea this year. And the. And then the other thing that I would maybe check if I were Shea, if you wanted to do was how many games are the Thunder going to win? Right now they're at 60 already. Right. So let the. Let's call it. Let's. Let's put it at 62 wins because they'll definitely get, you know, at least two more wins. All teams by team wins, guys to average 30 a game on teams that won 62 or more. Kareem twice. Jordan, he won MVP. And did Kareem win MVP both of those years? Sorry. I hope this is interesting to the audience. It's interesting to me. Yes. Average 30 or more on a 62 plus win team. The people who have done it. Kareem in 71, one MVP. Kareem in 72, one MVP. Jordan in 92, one MVP. Jordan in 96, one MVP. Steph Curry in 2016, one MVP. James Harden in 2018, one MVP. And Shea this year. So, yeah, I think Shay, if Shea wanted to make a case for himself, it would be that I'm having one of the greatest guard seasons ever. And every single guy at any position who has scored like this and team has won, you know, 60 had 20 or fewer losses is, I guess, a way to put it, has one mvp. But have you seen his role gravity? I just, I mean, listen, I think the. As much as I love Luca, I don't think there is at the moment a compelling case for Luca over Shea for mvp. And that's despite the fact that I think Luke is better than him. But I think MVP has to be about what guys have done, not just a lining up of who the best player is. And it's. You got to be fair about it. So, yeah, I think Shay could have made his case. I just made his case for him. It seemed pretty compelling. I don't know. I don't know if Tim Bond. Tim. Straw poll voters are going to watch this pod, but maybe that'll move some things. All right, let's go to Jalen Hurts because I wanted to get this yesterday.

[Damanze]

Oh yeah. So ESPN dropped a story on the dysfunction of the 2025 Eagles. Hertz and Sirianni were scrutinized very heavily. More A.J. brown frustrations came to light. Is this way worse than what you thought?

[Nick Wright]

I don't know if it's way worse than what I thought, but here's what I confirms it. Well, I also find it interesting that this story can exist, meaning that you had 10 people with the Eagles in various ways kind of throwing shade at their franchise quarterback or their head coach. That this story can't exist in Kansas City. You can't write it. There's. You're just, you're not going to find three people, much less double digit sources that are going to be like here's the problem with Patrick, this story can't exist in Buffalo. This story kind of existed in Baltimore and the head coach got and that. But the head coach is out.

[Damanze]

Right?

[Nick Wright]

You know what I mean? Like the stories like this don't come out of thin air. And here is so just kind of rapid fire takeaways on it. You, you said more A.J. brown frustrations came to light. I looked at a little bit differently. I looked at it as this story to me, Demon say is a little confirmation as to why AJ Brown being such a pain in the ass the last two years did not seem to hurt his popularity in that locker room or standing amongst teammates. That even if A.J. brown's methods of messaging were clumsy or unprofessional, that it seems like there were enough people in that building that were like at least someone saying something that it, you know, create. It inoculated him a bit from what I think could be problematic. If nobody was, if everybody was like, man, AJ Such a diva, just wants his stats, everything else, then I think AJ Would not still have been as stable in that locker room as he seemed to be. So that, you know, that to me jumped. Another thing that jumped from this article was them really zeroing in on Jalen's. There's leadership style and play style. We'll start with play style. Jalen's allergy to playing the position certain ways more under center, more play action, turning his back to the defense, more pre snap motions, those types of things that can make things easier for receivers and quarterbacks if they're willing to do it and the way that truly limited their passing game and Jalen not wanting to adjust from there. Another, another piece of the story that I thought was really fascinating was one of the most criticized moments of the Eagles season. Late in the year 107 against Green Bay when Sirianni decided to go for a fourth down. And I'm going to pull up the time score situation. Exactly. Because I remember us seeing when it happened. I came on the show and I couldn't believe it that Sirianni not only went for the fourth down, now that obviously is his call. Oh, it wasn't late in the season. It was early in the season. Pardon me. I mean the exact midway point of the year. But. So here's the time score situation. Green Bay is out of timeouts. It is fourth and six for the Eagles at the Green Bay 35 yard line. So. And there's 33 seconds left. And so Sirianni chose not to kick the field goal, which I think probably was smart because you missed that field goal, you know, all of a sudden they're. They're near midfield and felt they were too close to punt. I disagreed with that piece of it. I thought you punt, try to pin him back, whatever. He decided to go for it, which was, I thought, questionable. But then what we really criticized was the play call was a bomb down the left sideline from Jalen Hurts AJ Brown. This article revealed they just called that on their own and that Jalen will occasionally just call stuff on his own or draw up routes essentially on his own. That was not what they practiced or what the play design was. Man, if you're going to do that, you need to have higher success rate at it than Jalen has had, certainly last year. I think that's fair. And then here is another criticism and then the big picture piece of it. They said in the article that Jaylen's, you know, has this Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan style of leadership. This is maybe going to be a controversial take and I want to make sure I say it right. I don't know that Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan's leadership styles were good. I think they were effective for them specifically. And it would. That leadership style is not in general the right way to be a leader and can only work if your individual excellence is unimpeachable.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Does that make sense? Yeah.

[Damanze]

I was about to say because it's Kobe and Jordan like that. Those guys are one of ones.

[Nick Wright]

Exactly. So I just think that again, people roll their eyes at my Mahomes stuff, but it's all true. It's not at all Patrick's style of leadership, the Kobe or Jordan style, but he's probably the only quarterback in the league that if it were, could get away with it.

[Damanze]

Right.

[Nick Wright]

Like what are we going to say? To this guy. You know what I mean? He's, he's the best. He is going to go down in history as the greatest or on the ver like Kobe, on the very short list of greatest. What are we going to do? So I just, I think that could, if I used the wrong comp on the TV show yesterday when this came up, but I want to use an NBA comp. Like I don't think the Kobe or Jordan style of leadership would if, when not I can't use him because they didn't, they, they, they didn't have any success. And Jaylen obviously has had a lot of success. If Tyrese Halliburton was like the I have a Kobe or LeBron style or Kobe or Jordan style of leadership, I think people might be like, yeah,

[Damanze]

okay,

[Nick Wright]

yeah, listen, you're really good. Don't get me wrong, but we're not quite there yet. And then here's the football. Read on it. It's very simple. And this is where the Russell Wilson comps just continue a pace. Because Russell Wilson, like Jalen Hurts, went to two different colleges because one place didn't want him anymore. Like Russell Wilson, Jalen Hurts has won everywhere. Like Russell Wilson went to two Super Bowls very early. Winning one, losing one. Like Russell Wilson, particularly early in his career, had real questions about what a precise thrower he is. With that said, the one type of throw that from the very beginning he was excellent at was the deep ball. Like Russell Wilson seemed to have very odd relationships with teammates like Russell Wilson. There was a real debate about how much credit he should get for winning a championship on that team with that style. And here is where Russell Wilson, to his credit in the second half of his Seahawks career adjusted. Once Russell Wilson stopped being this dynamic scrambling running threat, he did develop as a better passer. Jalen Hurts, his first full time years of starter ran for 785 yards. His SEC and the TD numbers I are weird because of the tush push piece of it. So I, I don't even know how to calculate those. His second year as a starter he ran for 760 yards. His first year it was 5.6 of carry. His second year is 4.6 a carry. His third year as a starter he ran for 605 yards at 3.9 yards a carry. His fifth year, fourth year as a starter aim for 630 yards at 4.2 a carry. And last year he ran for 421 yards at 4.0 at carry. If you are going to no longer be a true dynamic on any snap dual threat quarterback you must do what Russ did and greatly improve as a passer. Russell Wilson is second year as a third year as a starter ran for 850 yards by you know by 2018, his seventh year as a starter that was down to three. He went from 8:50 his third year to 376 and no rushing touchdowns his seventh year. But that year he threw for 35 touchdowns, seven interceptions, had a 110 rating. The next two years he had a combined 105 rating, 71 touchdowns, 80 picks and threw for more than 4,000 yards each year. So if the running is not going to be as big of a part of your game you he's he's got to get better as a precision fully developed passer or he's got to lean into the running more like he used to. And this is the last thing I'll say on this demase Sirianni is obviously on the hot seat. Jalen hurts seat is warmer than a guy who is 14 months removed from winning Super Bowl MVP. Seat has any business being does that make like the he you would think he had a three year minimum grace period. Yeah and it feels like it might be two year minimum grace period and then some did this not at all Take conversations. Go ahead.

[Damanze]

This didn't take away any flack on Sirianni. Like you don't think his seat got a little bit cooler with this?

[Nick Wright]

Well, it seems like some of the criticisms in the article was that Sirianni doesn't, you know, won't criticize Jalen or won't, you know, isn't going to so I don't know. I it did in that I do give Sirianni credit on that play that I talked about against Green Bay.

[Damanze]

Right.

[Nick Wright]

He went to the press conference and said he called it right and to, you know, throw him So I do he is good at taking blame for other guys stuff I and I think that's one of the reasons his players love him and so I will give him credit for that. All right. We're going to talk about another quarterback in a second. But first, Boost Mobile is proving that you don't have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the Savings with the $25 a month Forever Unlimited plan. It's a permanent price for with no contracts and no price hikes you can keep your phone and your number but you save up to $600 a year compared to the major carriers. Stop overpaying and switch to a Fair [e-mail] today based on average annual single line payment of AT&T Verizon and T Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan as of January 2026. For full offer details, visit boost mobile.com all right, Damanze, let's go to your guy before we wrap the show.

[Damanze]

Yeah. So my new head coach, Jesse Mentor, sounds like he doesn't know if Lamar is coming to the voluntary workouts. He said, quote, we'll see who walks in the door, end quote. With a new coaching staff in place, does this is a bad look for Lamar not showing up to the workouts?

[Nick Wright]

So listen, and people have heard me say this a hundred times now in the last CBA negotiations between the players and the owners, the players wanted more money. The owners held the line and said, instead of giving you more money, we'll essentially make you work less, make training camp easier, have less mandatory days of off season stuff. And one of the reasons I feel like the coaches were fine with the owners doing that was because they correctly assumed the media would shame players who don't show up for voluntary stuff. So voluntary would essentially end up becoming de facto mandatory. The owners could keep more money and there would be a real pressure on guys to show up even though they don't have to. So I've never wanted to be a part of that. So I've basically had a blanket policy of not criticizing guys who don't show up for the voluntary portion of the off season. That blanket policy has had a caveat of. I do feel like it's a little different for quarterbacks. Quarterbacks are paid the most. They have. They are, you know, almost a part of management themselves. They just have, over the game, most control over the game. And their salary is so, so disproportionate to everyone else's. I do think it's okay to ask a little bit more from them. Okay, so there is that piece of it. Now, what is also true is Lamar historically is not going to these things. Last year, the Ravens had nine voluntary practices. He went to one of them. He doesn't like to go. And aside from last year, you could never point to a season where it's like, well, look, sure looks like Lamar needed that offseason practice that, you know, they've. He's been excellent throughout his career. With all of that said, he is coming off, individually, his worst season. The team is coming off, collectively, their worst season. He does want a new contract. And I don't think that. I don't think this is a negotiating ploy. I'm just adding that to the, you know, tapestry of what's happening here. And most importantly, this is the first time in his career were in an off season. They have changed coaches. I think he should be there and I don't think there. I do, I don't think it is a massive indicator of how successful their season will or won't be if he's not there. But I think it's really weird that the new head coach Jesse mentor seems to just be resigned to the fact that he doesn't expect him there. You are the Lamar guy. How do you feel about this?

[Damanze]

Well, he hasn't officially not gone yet. It is a new head coach. Yeah. I think, I think last season was. No, no. The last season was the type of season where it's like, maybe you should get in all the extra work and you can. Like, if this were a different year, maybe I feel a little bit differently. But yeah, I don't, I don't love it. I don't hate it too much. I mean, I know he's at least working out.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, no, he's definitely. And so that's the other piece of it that makes the him not going to the off season stuff so odd to me. He obviously works his ass off. Yeah, he's improved so much in different parts of his game. He's always in great shape. Like, he, the, you can't, it's not even like in April. It's. I know he doesn't like the cold. It's not cold in Baltimore this time of year. Like, it's, you know, it's not gonna drop into the 50s where he has to worry about getting the flu as usual. Like, I don't, I don't. He's always done.

[Damanze]

That's also, he's always done it this way and you know, but yeah, the, the new coach, it, it makes sense to go.

[Nick Wright]

It's so. Hold on. The. I, I, I just real quick before we go. All right. I, I want to read all of these because this is so much fun. I mean, it's just so much fun. The Kirk Cousins contract details.

[Damanze]

Oh, yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Because Rem. You know what I feel, I feel like I have done good work in my role of shaming some of the NFL insiders on info they're putting out and so credit where it's due. I am going to start with Rapaport, who was the subject of a bit of my ire on the. Whose contract? Oh, the Travis kelsey deal. The one year, $12 million Travis Kelsey deal is reported as a three year $55 million Travis Kelce deal because it had a fake year two option of 40 million bucks. Rapaport I will read his tweet directly. The Raiders are signing QB Kirk Cousins to a contract that pays him $10 million for playing in Las Vegas in 2026. 1.3 paid by the Raiders, the rest paid by The Falcons and 10 million in next March in a fully guaranteed roster bonus with no offset. There is a two year team option for $80 million. So instead of reporting it as this massive deal he's telling us and then he follows up essentially a $20 million payday for Kirk Cousins in Las Vegas for 2026. Then we'll see. But the idea was that he wouldn't play for the minimum. Now he gets a lot more. Rapoport then follows up with 20 million is also bridge starter money a sign that Kirk Cousins could indeed be taking the first snap in Las Vegas. Rap sheet Love it. Well done. We got the actual information Rap sheets frenemy rival Adam Schefter. Let's see how how he reported this. Let hold on, don't go to that yet. Oh wait. Oh that's great. Here we go. Comp update. Kirk Cousins will sign a five year $172 million deal with the Raiders. That in reality all right, love it. I'm good with this too. Shafter well done. A one year fully guaranteed $20 million deal that contains a club option for two years at $80 million. Falcons will play Pay Cousins 8.7 this season. Raiders another 1.3 and Raiders agreed to pay its newly its new QB a fully guaranteed 10 million dollar roster bonus on the third day of the 2027 new league year and maybe most notably sets on the new mark. This will be the 11th straight season which Cousins contract will be fully guaranteed. Guys, this is all we need to do. We the now nobody's like holy shit are the Raiders not drafted? Mendoza they escape Kirk Cousins 170 million so that those are all, you know, various contract mechanisms about teams being able to do void years or different ways to manipulate how much shows up on this year's cap. But it's a one year $20 million deal. Everyone understands it because our two biggest NFL transaction reporters nailed it. Guys, I can't. I'm not ready to say my work here is done, but I do feel like we're moving towards a better, more informed public, which has been my goal. All right, that'll do it for today. We're going to stick around and do a mailbag episode. A huge thank to thanks to Boost Mobile and to Hard Rock. As always, huge thanks to Blue Duck and to the volume. Huge thanks to Matt Ford for filling in Daniel's metaphorically giant shoes. But I think literally probably quite small shoes. Doing a great job. Talk to you guys tomorrow for the mailbag episode.

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