What’s Wright - Nick Wright's Mailbag: Mahomes, Allen & Lamar ALL-TIME RANKING, Giannis to OKC? + NBA expansion

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd: What’s Wright - Nick Wright's Mailbag

Episode Theme & Purpose
Date: April 4, 2026
In this episode (#441) of “What’s Wright with Nick Wright,” Nick hosts a dynamic mailbag edition featuring co-host Damanze. The show explores timely questions from listeners covering NBA playoff scenarios (including Giannis trade speculation and the possibility of NBA expansion), deep dives into the all-time ranking of current NFL quarterbacks (Mahomes, Allen, Lamar, Burrow), and broader topics ranging from favorite sports moments to hot takes on tech in sports and personal career reflections.

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1. NBA: Giannis-to-OKC & Expansion Draft Scenarios

Should OKC Trade for Giannis if They Fall Short in the Playoffs?

• [05:20] Listener Question (Adrian): Should OKC trade for Giannis and move J-Dub if they lose in the second round?
  • Nick’s Take: “Absolutely not… I flirted with the idea of OKC trading for Giannis during this season, but two things have changed.”
  • Key reasons:
    • OKC’s depth has improved, especially with ascendance of players like AJ Mitchell.
    • Giannis, now 31, has more health concerns: “Giannis is still, when healthy, one of the five best players in the league… but it’s risky.” [07:17]
    • The trade would bring a significant cap commitment through Giannis’ age 33–35 seasons, and the required package would be extreme.
    • “You are going to need to be a little desperate as a team to make the Giannis move… I would not… If I were OKC or San Antonio, I just wouldn’t be interested.” [07:34]
    • Teams more likely to chase Giannis: Knicks, Rockets, Cavs, Heat.
  • Notable Quote: “He went from indestructible to a bit of an injury risk pretty quickly.” [09:14]

Insight on NBA Expansion Draft Mechanics

• [09:28] Listener Question (Jason): How would an NBA expansion draft work and who’d be available?
  • Nick breaks down the typical NBA expansion draft:
    • The expansion teams usually get 6th/7th college draft picks; then select one player max per existing team (with existing teams protecting 8 players).
    • Strategy: Some teams protect high value/young assets; others may expose big contracts they want to unload.
    • “The most interesting piece… is looking at the deepest teams—teams who have more than eight quality players.” [10:24]
    • Thunder’s Dilemma: With quality depth, OKC would struggle to protect all valuable contributors.
      • “Man. I wonder if the Thunder vote against the expansion just because of that. Like, we got too many good players.” [13:43]
    • Past example: 1996 Raptors won the draft lottery but couldn’t pick #1 due to being an expansion team, leading to Allen Iverson going to Philly. [14:07]

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2. NFL: Ranking Mahomes, Allen, Lamar, and Burrow All-Time

The “Big Four” Quarterbacks’ Legacy Prospects

• [20:44] Listener Question (Catherine): Where will Mahomes, Allen, Lamar & Burrow rank all-time when their careers end?
  • Nick’s framework: Only includes “modern era” (post-merger) QBs in his all-time mountain.
  • Mahomes: “He’s already two. Running down Brady is going to be hard… but I believe he can do it.” [21:19]
  • Allen & Lamar: Nick sees Lamar currently ahead due to accolades, but expects Allen to surpass him in the long run based on Super Bowl odds and resume potential.
  • Projected Tiers:
    • Mahomes: #2 all-time (behind Brady)
    • Allen: “Finish right around where Steve Young, Kurt Warner are… right outside the top ten.” [23:15]
    • Lamar: “Right around the Big Ben (15–16) area.”
    • Burrow: “In the Matt Stafford area—like 20, 22, something like that.” [24:31]
  • Notable Quote: “Joe Burrow is an underdog to make the Hall of Fame. The injuries plus the lack of team success…” [25:25]

Debating Lamar Jackson’s Place & Popularity

• [25:56] Listener Question (Asa): Has Lamar overachieved expectations? Why do people prefer Burrow over Lamar?
  • Yes, Lamar not only overachieved as a late first-rounder, he “would have overachieved people’s early expectations if he was the number one pick of the draft.” [27:09]
  • On bias: “There’s a faction of folks… when they say best quarterbacks, they mean best passers… the credit you get for what you do with your legs somehow doesn’t fall into the quarterback rankings. And listen, I’m guilty of that sometimes.” [26:11]
  • Lamar is “one of the greatest regular season players ever… he’s shattered expectations.” [27:26]

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3. Quick Hits: Sports Moments, World Cup Sleepers, and Replay Tech

Mount Rushmore of Greatest Sports Moments (Nick’s Personal List)

• “Tiger winning his final Masters in 2019.”
• “LeBron’s block in Game 7 of the Finals on Iguodala.”
• “Mahomes and the Chiefs’ overtime drive in the Super Bowl v. Niners.”
• “Usain Bolt at the Olympics, pounding his chest during the 100 meters.”
  • “When I say them, I get goosebumps again.” [28:32]

World Cup Dark Horse Picks

• [31:12] Listener Question (Joel): Who’s your sleeper team (besides the USA) for the next World Cup?
  • “Norway, because maybe Haaland just has a Pele-esque tournament… My super long shot would be Croatia, but the winner’s going to be a favorite.” [31:21]

Are “Abs” (HawkEye Tech) Ruining Tennis?

• “It is hard for me to argue that the replay system in tennis doesn’t work. It’s instant. It’s accurate. I do think part of tennis, the charm of it, was arguing about line calls and McEnroe losing his mind…” [33:15]
• Nick critiques mission creep in all sports with instant replay: “We say we’re going to do it for obvious mistakes… and then it expands and expands… I think it has done more harm than good.” [35:53]
• Notable application: Baseball out/safe rules, NBA out-of-bounds by fingertips—a small but real erosion of the human drama.

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4. Nick’s Career Reflections

Moments That Defined Nick in Sports Media

• [38:53] Listener Question (Kumi): Was there a “made it” moment?
  • “The first time I filled in for Colin… was a pinch myself moment. A year prior, I was doing radio in Houston, cold calling LA stations… and a year later I was filling in for Colin.” [39:20]
  • On influence: “After one of my Kaepernick segments… Aaron Rodgers DM’d me, thanking me for it.” [41:30]
  • Teams using Nick’s takes in trade discussions: “I had a guy on an NBA coaching staff send me a clip from the show… showed my clip to ownership as part of their pitch. Those are the moments that jump out.” [43:21]

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5. Light Mailbag: Hypotheticals and Show Features

NFL GM vs. NBA GM vs. Pro Poker

• [43:46] Question: Which would Nick be best at?
  • Ranking: 1) NFL GM, “there’s so many bad ones, you can be a good one by picking on them”; 2) Poker; 3) NBA GM, “there’s so few decisions to truly make, I’d get frustrated and be too gambly.” [43:58]

Will the “Book Club” Return?

• “A soft yes… but last time I was reading long passages on the air—it wasn’t good. I have to figure out how to better do it if I’m actually going to do it.” [45:59]

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “He went from indestructible to a bit of an injury risk pretty quickly.” – Nick (on Giannis), [09:14]
• “Joe Burrow is an underdog to make the Hall of Fame. The injuries plus the lack of team success…” – Nick, [25:25]
• “One of the greatest regular season players ever… he’s shattered expectations.” – Nick (on Lamar), [27:26]
• “When I say them, I get goosebumps again.” – Nick (on favorite sports moments), [28:32]
• “I just think there’s so many bad ones that you can be a good [NFL GM] just by picking on the bad ones.” – Nick, [44:35]

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For New Listeners

This episode delivers trademark Nick Wright: bold, reasoned takes on the direction of NBA and NFL franchises, big-picture context, and candid discussion of career milestones. The mailbag format provides rich, organic debate, regular forays into sports history, and windows into the evolving culture of modern pro sports. Perfect for fans interested in both daily headlines and lasting legacies.

Transcript

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[Nick Wright]

Welcome in what's Right with Nick Wright, episode 441. This episode of what's Right with Nick Wright is presented to you by our wonderful friends at Boost Mobile. And this is our mailbag episode. I want to be very clear, I don't know if Simmons invented this, but he, he was doing mailbags when I was in high school and was like the must read column that he wrote on page two for espn. And so if this is shameless theft, shameless theft. But I, I no problem admitting it. And so we're not going to do these every Friday. Every Friday we will have a show, but we're going to do some mailbag, some gambling stuff. Some maybe deeper. Like some folks have asked me why I haven't on the pod talked about the tiger situation yet. That will either be a 40 minute conversation or one I just hold for, you know, sometime down the line. And so I don't, it's not something I'm going to do flippantly or quickly because I have a lot of emotion attached to it. And it's also I have a lot of complex feelings about it. And if, if the story of what's happening with Tiger woods in one of the stories is a guy post surgery got prescribed opioids and became hopelessly addicted to them. That is one of the more common and important stories of this country this century and how many people that has happened to. And so I just, I don't want to flippantly do that. So the reason I even mentioned that here is we might have Friday like solo topic episodes, but today's is a mailbag and we've broken it up into topics if you didn't get or into segments, I should say your question read don't think. Well, I submitted this question and didn't get it on this mailbag. Therefore you know, it'll never get read. We might in future mailbags pick older questions, but these were the ones we've gone with today. Daman, great to see you. Go right ahead.

[Damanze]

Good to see you sir. First off we got Kathry. He asked where do you think the big.

[Nick Wright]

Hold on. No, let's start. No, no, no. Let's start with the NBA topics. The top.

[Damanze]

Sorry. Adrian asked if OKC loses in the second round, could should they make a play for Giannis and trade J Dub?

[Nick Wright]

My answer to that question would be absolutely not. Now I flirted with the idea of OKC trading for Giannis during this season, but two things have changed. One is OKC's overall depth and guys like AJ Mitchell and others like just ascending has made me feel even more confident about their real sturdiness as a contender over the Next call it 5 years, the rest of Shay's prime. And the other thing that has happened to Monz is trading for Giannis feels like less of a no brainer. Awesome move.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Because of all the lower body injuries.

[Damanze]

The injuries. Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

So Giannis is 31. Whoever trades for him I would imagine will have to give him a, you know, the full boat contract extension because next year is the fight. Technically he has two years left on his deal after this year, but one of them is a player option so he can be a free agent in 15 months. So if you trade for him, you really like you're signing up for age 33, 34, 35 at a minimum. Giannis. And don't get me wrong, Giannis is still win healthy one of the five best players in the league

[Damanze]

with with J.

[Nick Wright]

But it's risky.

[Damanze]

Right. I think with SGA and J Dub coming up together they kind of have that like Tatum Brown might not make sense to make a move like that.

[Nick Wright]

And you don't. You wouldn't. Would I trade Giannis for J Dub straight up? Yes, I would. But that you would be trading so much more than that.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

And to make the cap stuff work. So the team. I know this is going to sound odd but I think you are going to need to be a little desperate as a team to make the Giannis move like so I would not. If I were OKC or San Antonio, I just wouldn't be interested. I would say let's, let's not change our timelines and move all our chips. Now the Knicks might be desperate after these playoffs. The. The Rockets might be desperate after these playoffs. I don't think the Cavs could do it but the Cavs might be desperate after these playoffs. The. The Laker. Listen, I think Luke and Giannis would be a sick duo I don't think the Lakers have anywhere close to the assets to make it happen, just like I don't think the warriors have the assets to make it happen. The Heat might be like, man, we're sick. We. We haven't been. We guys score 83 and nobody cares anymore. Like the. But I just. So I would. No matter what happens to OKC these playoffs, and no matter what happens to San Antonio these playoffs, I wouldn't. I just feel very differently about what Giannis's next five years are going to look like right now than I did 18 months ago. Yeah, but I mean, that's what. When. When you only play 36 games this year and you keep. Those calf strains worry me. Like, he's just. He went from indestructible to a bit of an injury risk pretty quickly. So that's, you know, that's where I stand on that.

[Damanze]

All right, next, Jason says, Nick, with all the discussions about the two possible expansion teams, can you explain how an expansion draft works and who would be the best players available?

[Nick Wright]

Now, listen, it's not written in stone how an expansion draft works, because the NBA gives itself a little wiggle room. But historically, if they brought in two teams, those two teams would be given, like, the sixth and seventh or seventh and eighth picks of whatever draft that is for the college player draft. And then they would be able to claim players from any team, maximum, I believe, of one player per team. And teams are allowed Demons A. To protect. Basically, no. Well, they can protect eight guys.

[Damanze]

Okay. Oh, copy.

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[Nick Wright]

You can protect eight guys. Keep in mind, if they claim them, they're claiming their contract. So some teams would just protect their eight best players. Some teams would protect, you know, their six best play. Like, if the expansion draft was right now, I would imagine the Sixers would not. I know he did actually played great last night. The Sixers would not protect Paul George. They'd be like, you want to take that contract from us? So be it. So here is where it is. And I. This is. This isn't really the right way to do this right now because we don't know, you know, this. The draft wouldn't be happening this offseason, obviously, but the most interesting piece of it would be assuming it were happening this offseason. Look at the deepest teams in the league, teams who have more than eight quality players.

[Damanze]

Right.

[Nick Wright]

Right. So let's start with the Spurs. The spurs would protect Wimby. They would protect Dylan Harper. They would protect de' Aaron Fox. They would protect Stefan Castle. They would protect Devin Vassell, we're at five. They would protect Champagne were at six. Oh, you know what the spurs don't actually have. And then because Barnes is a free agent like this. So the. The spurs would be fine.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

The. After they're after. The spurs are actually not quite as deep as they are. In my head, what they are is young and they have an eight. They really, you know, respect and. But the Thunder, though, are the fun one.

[Damanze]

Yeah. The only one.

[Nick Wright]

I feel like, well, it speaks to how deep they are. I'm trying to think of another team that's like, man, we've got nine good players. The Knicks might. But the. The. The Thunder would protect Shay. They'd protect J. They'd protect Chet. They would protect. They just have all these, like, young, interesting guys. They would protect AJ Mitchell because he makes no money and he's been good. They would. Let's. They might feel like, well, we're probably not going to be able to resign Dort anyway. But let's. You know, Dort HARTENSTEIN were at 6. I haven't mentioned Caruso.

[Damanze]

Yep.

[Nick Wright]

And Isaiah Joe. So that then if those were the eight guys now, I actually think they probably wouldn't protect Dort or Hartenstein. One of them. They wouldn't because they're like, we're not going to be able to resign that guy anyway. We expect to have him leave. We'd rather keep the cost controlled guys, but that would leave. Shit. I haven't even mentioned Case and Wallace. The other Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins, or the guy that they just got from the Sixers who they like, Jared McCain. So that like some. The Thunder. Man. I wonder if the Thunder vote against the expansion just because of that. Like, we got too many good players. There are not many teams that this would be a problem for them.

[Damanze]

I mean, they just get to clean up the stuff that they don't want.

[Nick Wright]

Right. Well, but the thing is. But it's not the thing, is it? Not quite. Because the other team has to want it.

[Damanze]

You got to.

[Nick Wright]

The other team has to then say, we want that player. But they do have to fill out their rosters.

[Damanze]

Right.

[Nick Wright]

So that's how. And B, A guys. No, no, it'll be NBA guys. Draft be regular size. Now, historically there had been a rule that within the first four years of being in the. In the league, you can't win the draft lottery. Like, you can't get the number one pick, which is kind of funny fact. 1996, the Raptors won the draft lottery and ended up picking second instead of first because they weren't allowed to win, you know, so they moved down, which is how Philly got Allen Iverson like Allen I. If that rule was in place, Iverson would have been.

[Damanze]

That's crazy.

[Nick Wright]

Raptor. Yeah, the Celtics are an interesting one. Tatum, Brown, White Houser, Pritchard. At this point, they love Hugo Qua Shireman. So they probably like Luke Garza is the best player the Celtics would not protect. It is so again, there's not a lot of teams that have more than eight good players, but those are the, those are the ones that jump out. All right, Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock BET Florida Sportsbook. The biggest weekend in college basketball is almost here. Round of four is set. A national champion is days away from cutting down the net. Now's the time to step your game up with the daily dancing boost 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 at their highest. And 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 and 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.

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[Damanze]

Speaking of the Hard Rock Bed app, do you have any PEX pick picks for the final Four?

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, I'm listen I think these are both going to be outstanding games. The the we've talked about this but the bright side of no Cinderella is you typically get an unbelievable elite 8. Obviously Yukon Duke was an all time and should get an exceptional final four. But I would be rolling with both underdogs on this one and they're both tiny underdogs. Yeah. Arizona plus one and a half and Yukon plus one and a half would be my two picks. I don't. Listen, I'm a Syracuse guy. I've you know, I didn't love Jim Calhoun, I don't love Dan Hurley. But I respect them and what that he has built and what they have done is remarkable. And Eric, even though my pick to win this whole thing was Houston, I Think Arizona has been the best team all year. And I know Danny's on Michigan, but I like Arizona plus point and a half and UConn plus a point and a half. All right, now let's go to some of the NFL mailbag questions Catherine asks.

[Damanze]

Where do you think the big four quarterbacks of the NFL, Mahomes, Alan, Lamar and Burrow will rank when they all retire? All time.

[Nick Wright]

What a great question. Yeah. No, no, no. Well, so they're all time rank. So let me see if I can find my all time QB pyramid. Just to give it some context here. I'm pretty sure. Hold on.

[Damanze]

I'm.

[Nick Wright]

I'm pretty sure All Time Mountain I think is what I called it. I have it in my docs. Let me see if I can find it real quick. I apologize.

[Damanze]

Off the top of your like, would they all be in the top 10?

[Nick Wright]

No way. No, no, no, no. So listen, Mahomes is in my eyes already too. And the running down Brady is going to be hard. I understand that. I believe he can do it. But the smart bet for Mahomes is that he'll slot in at 2 right now, this moment. Who do you think is higher all time demons A Allen or Lamar?

[Damanze]

I'd have to give it to Lamar. I mean obviously I do too. Totally unbiased opinion.

[Nick Wright]

I agree with you. I. I agree with you. I think that even though, even even though Lamar has struggled in the the postseason, I still think that he is he. His two MVPs, his regular season numbers are so magnificent and I think that he is. Okay. I finally found it. I think that he is ahead of Josh. I don't think he'll finish ahead of Josh because I think he's more likely to win an MVP or to win a Super Bowl Josh is than Lamar. So I think, I think that Josh will finish. Like right around where Steve Young, Kurt Warner are, which is for me like right outside the top 10 modern era. And by modern era I mean post merger. So I'm not counting star unitis, Graham Ball. Those guys are out. So like the oldest quarterbacks that I'm ranking are Staubach and Bradshaw. But for me the top 10 post merger quarterbacks again, not including the super old guys, Brady, Mahomes, Manning, Montana Marino, Elway, Rogers, Fox, Far Far, Staubach, Bradshaw. That's your 10 with Steve Young, Kurt Warner, Troy Aikman, Drew Brees and you know Lamar with two MVP has got to be in that mix at the moment. I think that Josh Allen is going to finish right around of the of you know, post merger, Steve Young, Kurt Warner area. I think Lamar is going to finish right around the Big Ben 15, 16 area and I think that Burrow is going to finish in the Matt stafford area like 20, 22, something. Something like that.

[Damanze]

Okay.

[Nick Wright]

Like outside the. That's how I think it's going to go. And I don't know if that's going to be fair to Burrow, but I think Burrow drew the nut well on franchise to be drafted, to be honest. I listen, I think Stafford's a great. I think what he's done with the Rams is unbelievable. But I can't put Stafford's career ahead of Big Ben or Drew Brees. You know what I mean? I can put him ahead of Philip Rivers, put him ahead of Eli Manning. But like right now I think Joe Burrow is an underdog to make the hall of Fame. I just think that the injuries plus the lack of team success and the, you know, that it's just so putting Stafford right now, I think just cemented himself as a Hall of Famer this past year with the mvp. So that's where I, you know, if we're doing all time, that's a great question. I like that a lot.

[Damanze]

All right, next ASA asks, do you think Lamar has overachieved everyone's early career expectations considering the fact that everyone, including his own team passed on him in the first round. And also why does everyone love Joe Burrow more than Lamar?

[Nick Wright]

Well, I don't know that everyone loves Joe Burrow more than Lamar. But look there, there is a faction of folks that when they say who are the best quarterbacks and I fall into this sometimes what they are saying is who are the best passers.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Like they are, they are removing. Right? They are removing. They are giving like the credit you get for what you do with your legs somehow doesn't fall into like the quarterback rankings. And listen, I'm guilty of that sometimes that probably is affected my feelings on Burrow. My feelings in the other direction on Jalen hurts for Lamar. I you know, everybody knows my big hang up with Lamar is the postseason stuff that I just think he gets in his own head and doesn't play nearly as like himself. But has he overachieved everyone's early career expectations by a mile? Like yeah, I mean he, he was the final pick of the first round and his first full time years of starter. He was unanimous mvp. I it so he has way over. He, he's. He would have overachieved people's early Career expectations if he was the number one pick of the draft. He. And so like, I mean, he is. And I know this sounds like damning with faint praise. He is one of the greatest regular season players ever. Like, full stop. He is that. Which is why he only needs one great playoff run or even one playoff run where he's not great, but the team wins anyway to just be stamped. Not that he's not already stamped, but that's Super Bowl. But, yeah, I. I know. Right. But he. But. So, yes, but he has shattered expectations. Shattered.

[Damanze]

All right, next, Curtis asks Nick, what is your Mount Rushmore? Are the greatest sports moments in history?

[Nick Wright]

So I am going to. There's two ways to answer this question. One way is to like, remove. Just remove me from it. Be like the greatest sports moments ever. And then you're like, well, Jesse Owens making. Right. So I. That. So I'm going to kind of like, if it was just like, hey, Nick, give me the definitive four greatest sports moments in history. You'd have to be like, well, a lot of them are not even really sports. It's like Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. Jesse Owens making Hitler look like a fool at the Olympics in front of him. The Miracle on ice. It's a lot, you know, a lot of Olympic social, political things. But he asked me my. So I'm going to do it. My goosebumps. Favorite greatest sports moments that I've seen in my life. And I'm going to like, so Tiger winning his final masters in 2019 when he, you know, he hadn't won in a decade. It looked like he was done. That is on there for me. LeBron's block in Game 7 of the Finals on Iguodala leading to that championship. That is on there for me. The. The. The drive in overtime, down three in the super bowl for Mahomes and the Chiefs to cement the dynasty and win back to back against the Niners. That's on there for me. And Usain Bolt at the Olympics just pounding his chest while finishing the hundred meter is on there for me. Just. Those are. Those are. When I say them, I get goosebumps again. Those are. Those are for me. My four favorite. Watched it, can remember where I watched it, how I watched it, what I was doing moments for me as a sports fan. So for whatever it's worth.

[Damanze]

But yeah. Joel, Joel asks, who's your sleeper World cup team? Not usa. Also a lifelong Brazil fan here.

[Nick Wright]

So if by sleeper you mean I have to go with someone with longer than 20 to 1 odds. So the teams with 20 to 1 or shorter odds are Spain, France, England, Brazil. My pick, Argentina, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands. Those are the 20 to 1. Let me be very clear. The winner is going to be one of them. All right, But I would, I would say Norway because maybe Holland just has a Pele esque tournament and just carries this team. But again, Pele was on a Brazilian team that, you know, had a lot of other talent and my super long shot would be, I mean Croatia keeps making the semis and on the strength of modric and it would be silly to count them out but they're like 100 to 1 but so nor was my. But again, the World cup is one by favorites like the World Cup. You don't historically have a team come out of nowhere to win the World Cup. We've had teams come out of nowhere to go on deep runs. But to win the thing that's not really the story of that tournament.

[Damanze]

All right, next rule of halves. Asked regarding abs, do you genuinely, do you genuinely think tennis should do. Should do away with their replay? Hawkeye Tech, should we add more human figures fallibility in sports? Like no replays at all.

[Nick Wright]

Listen, it is hard for me to argue that the replay system in tennis doesn't work. It's instant. It's accurate. I do think part of tennis, the charm of it was arguing about line calls and McEnroe losing his mind and having that, that friction there. But an ABS seems to be working. I guess I just don't love it. I like, I do like that there are the. And here's the thing. If you. And I've said this before, so I don't want to spend too much time on it. It'd be in reruns. It's the mission creep on instant replay that kills me. We say we're going to do it for obvious mistakes. Black and white. Yes. No. And we're going to do it quickly. And then it expands and expands and it expands and pre abs. I think instant replay was bad for baseball. They added like they were like we want to see if somebody got tagged before they stole a base. It's like, oh, okay, that makes sense. That's black and white. And then what we learned was evidently for all of baseball history, about 10% of stolen bases where guys beat the tag for a millisecond after beating the tag, they, they came off the bag and. And so they were, they were safe. But then after being safe, they were out. They that had never been called out ever in baseball history. And then with replay, it's like, oh, that guy's out now. Just like in basketball, it's like, no, we just want to correct obvious errors. And then we learned, oh, when we're playing basketball, if I'm holding the ball and you knock it out of my hand for the entirety of the sport's history and every level the sport is played at on an amateur level, that's out on you. You knocked out of my hands. But as it turns out, because of physics, a lot of the time you knock the ball out of my hand, your hand is off it before the tip of my middle fingers off it. So it's off me. That is not getting it right.

[Damanze]

Yeah, that is a huge thing in open runs, man.

[Nick Wright]

And that's only because of replay. That used to never be an argument. We were like, oh, in the NBA, I see that, like, so I just don't. I, I, I think it has done more harm than good. I really do. All right, Damanze, we're gonna go down to Kumi's question next. But first, you ever notice how everything keeps going up? Rents going up, Streaming services going up? Your favorite burrito spots charging extra for salsa. But with 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 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 lower speeds. Customers will pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the Boost unlimited plan.

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[Nick Wright]

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[Podcast Host]

We've been doing mornings the same way for a long time. Now hit the snooze button, Hit the snooze button again. Roll out of bed eventually, then race to get out the door like it's some kind of obstacle course. But mornings should start strong. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all. And that's where silk protein comes in. It's a place plant based beverage with 13 grams of complete plant protein and 50% less sugar than dairy milk. So you're not just starting your day, you're starting it better. Blend it into your smoothie, mix it into your coffee, pour it over cereal or just drink it straight when you're running late but still trying to make good choices.

[Nick Wright]

Ah.

[Podcast Host]

Because however you mix it, those extra 13 grams of complete plant protein are the little bit of extra you need. A little extra readiness, a little extra boost, a little extra oomph. So let's mix up the old routine from here on out. Let's start our morning. Strong silk protein. Feel planty. Good.

[Nick Wright]

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[Nick Wright]

All right, Damanze, we got a few questions left. Go ahead.

[Damanze]

Kumi says congratulations to you and the entire FTF crew on the on the nomination question for you going back to the days when you were hosting the Herd for in July of 202016 and interviewing Colin about Katie to the warriors or the times you were speaking about Kaepernick. Is there a single moment segment you recall feeling like, oh, I've made it in sports media.

[Nick Wright]

A few things have like yeah, there, there's a few things I could point to. But the first time I filled in for Colin was the, that was. The, the moment where I just, I, it was like a pinch myself. Like wow. And that by the way, that was like we're coming up on my first day at Fox. I'm glad the maybe someone at Fox will hear this. They'll send me something. My first day at Fox was April 20, 2016. So we are a few weeks away from my 10 year anniversary with the company. Longest I've ever been with any place. Like my longest relationships in life. Go your mom de Monze number one, Fox number two. Like that's the. And it is, it's. And so it was. I should look up the date. But it was so If I started April 20th it would have been like late May, early June was my first time filling in for Colin. It was right before July 4, 2016 is the day I was filling in for Colin and Katie went to the Warriors 10 minutes before the show started and we threw out the whole rundown and I hosted. And that was a very important. Right. That was a very important moment in, in my career. And Colin came in and I interviewed him because it was such. Like, he wanted to be on the air. But. But the. But that wasn't my first time filling in for him, but that was the. The moment where I was like, man, like, I couldn't believe it. A year prior, I was doing radio in Houston, kind of cold calling LA radio stations to try to get a local LA radio show. And it had turned. And then a year later I was filling in for Colin. So, yeah, that's the moment now I've had, you know, the, the first few times, like the Kaepernick thing. I don't know if I've ever spoken about this, but the fact that, like, I ended up after some of the Kaepernick defense. Not that I. He really needed a defense, but he did at the time. You know, I had lunch with him along with Chris Carter. That was really cool. Of all people. After one of my Kaepernick segments about what he was actually protesting, Aaron Rogers DM'd me, saying, thanking me for it, essentially. And I'd been on the air at that point, First Things first had existed for a few weeks and. And then at his press conference after he had DM'd me, Aaron, without quoting me, kind of made some of the same points I was making. So I thought that was pretty unbelievable. And I had. I had a guy on an. Early in my time on First Things First, I had a guy on an NBA coaching staff send me a clip from the show where I had advocated for a team to really go for it at the trade deadline. And they did. And he said that they showed my clip to ownership as part of their. Like, listen, this is why we've got to do it now. I don't know if that's true or not, but those are the moments that jump out to me that early on in the run of the TV show or my run of Fox was where I felt really like, you know, pretty. It felt really good. You and aod you the. I know, it's unbelievable. Yeah, it's just. Yeah, that went left on us, didn't it? All right, let's go to Eric.

[Damanze]

Eric. Eric asks Nick Rank which of the following non sports TV careers you think you'd be the best at and why? NFL gm, NBA gm, professional poker player.

[Nick Wright]

I think I'd be worst at NBA gm. I think because there's so few it's such a small roster and there's so few like actual decisions you get to make. I think I'd get frustrated and be too gambly. You know what I like I would be like, man, like I don't think I'd have patience for it. I think I, I think I'd be best at NFL gm second best poker. And here's why. The other professional poker players, like the true professionals are the best they've ever been. So good and so studied and so kind of grounded and just they are very. They're not there to gamble. They are there to do a job that they have perfected. And while I love studying poker and watching it and these things, I'm also there to gamble. Like I'm not. And so I just, I'm not like those guys. I think professional poker player 30 years ago when there was a lot more guys are drinking and gam like those types of things. I think that, that but the game has evolved so much. NFL GM on the other hand, I just think there's so many bad ones that you can be a good one just by kind of picking on the bad ones. So I think NFL GM would be the first draft pick, professional poke player second draft pick and NBA GM third.

[Damanze]

All right, last one, rich ass Nick. Now that we're back to three shows a week, can we get the book club back?

[Nick Wright]

I really should bring it back in some form and I'd also would force me to read more than I'm reading, which I'm a little ashamed of that I'm not reading more than I currently am. So a soft yes. But I also have to figure out how to better do it. Last time when we tried it, I was reading long passages on the air. It wasn't good. So I have to figure out, I have to figure out how to better do the book club if I'm actually going to do it. But money does it well. I haven't figured out how to do it well. All right, huge thank you to boost and a hard rock. Huge thank you to the volume and the blue duck. We'll be back on Tuesday. A normal week of shows next week on Tuesday. Great job demons. A great job listeners with the mailbag and viewers appreciate that. See you guys next week. We'll try.

[Podcast Host]

This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.