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We don't care where you hear it.
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Welcome in what's Right with Nick Wright, episode 458. This episode of what's Right Nick Right is presented to you by Boost Mobile Damanze. You are 27 years old. Good morning. Good to see you.
B
Good morning.
A
And you have been really heavily following the NBA on a day to day basis for I would say since you were around 20. You were a casual fan as a teenager. Which means last night might have been the best game you've ever seen. Start to finish live.
B
Yeah, no like it's as long as I can remember. I was thinking of some Pacers some Pacers games last year but as far as just like those games had some
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unbelievable finishes and like were shocking endings and they the entire playoffs but the entire the, the back and forth of it, the high level of play. Wimby absolutely unequivocally snatching Shay's chain with a vengeance. All of it. And so that is going to be. We're going to do something today that we've rarely done which is the vast majority of the show will not only be on one basketball game, but we are also going to I laid out like 20 play by play time score situation moments from the final few minutes of regulation plus the two overtimes that we're going to use to discuss the game as a whole. We have all of that. We will do a little Eastern Conference finals preview because sneaky to Monze, this did occur to me watching yesterday's last night's epic that the biggest winner was obviously the spurs and Wimby and the second biggest winner might have been the Knicks. There might be a path here for this. If all seven games of this series have the feel and the physicality and the intensity of what we saw last night. If the Knicks can get out of the east unscathed relatively quickly, they might be able to might be able to jump on whoever just got out of the seven game war. If it is a seven game war out west. So we'll get into that kidnapp these. Well no, I if the Cavs beat the Knicks then this is the NBA Finals that we're watching. This probably already is the NBA Finals that we're watching. But the Knicks acquitted themselves well against the spurs in the regular season and I believe the Thunder as well. So we can. We'll get into that and I'mma do five minutes, no more than that on Stephen A versus Jalen Brown because I it's gotten to a point of Absurdity where even though we are a week out from the sports Emmys, where I'm going to be in the same room as all of these people, I have no, I must address it. So all of that coming up first, though, Straight to voicemail. Brought to you by our friends at Boost Mobile. Shams reports. Mvp People get upset about it. I don't totally understand that. I knew Trevor Lawrence didn't actually cut his hair. I was going to be legit nervous about the Jags had he cut his hair, especially because that's not a good haircut. But that was fake. And first things first, headed to the Indy 500 tomorrow, which means Thursday we are going to try the always precarious live shows from a hotel room. We'll see how that works. But we got, you know, we've got to be able to react to game two of this series. But that's the plan. Bud Damanze double overtime, Game one, Western Conference Finals. Let's get right into it.
B
All right, so we witnessed some cinema last night between the spurs and the Thunder. Somebody finally gave a Thunder a run for their money. So coming into the series, a big question was Victor with many, would he be tired? Would be able to balance in these games? Went to double ot. He obviously was not tired. Should we overreact to this game? Where are we at right now?
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I don't think, listen, it's overreacting to the game would be saying the series is over. I don't believe that is the case. But I want to talk about WIMBY for a second. It'll be more than a second. We're going to talk a lot about WIMBY today. But couple weeks ago on this podcast, during one of our mailbag episodes, I was asked the question, what's the greatest a player can be all time, rankings wise, without ever actually being the best player alive? And I called my shot on it. I was like, well, whenever I give this take, people get very, very mad. But I explained how I have Kobe Bryant firmly in the top 10 all time. And I don't think he was ever the best player alive. And that of course makes people very, very angry because they bring up the fact that Kobe Bryant in 2008 was the league MVP and in 2009 and 2010 won the championship and was the finals MVP, and therefore he must be the best player alive. And I understand people having that opinion. But the reason I don't feel that way and the reason I feel they are wrong is In May of 2007, I watched 22 year old LeBron James score 25 consecutive points, 29 of 30 in the Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons to take control of that series and to without at that Moment in time, LeBron James had never won an MVP, had never played in a finals game, had none of the pelts on the wall that typically you would need to be the best player alive. But I watched the fucking game and I said that guy in this very moment is better at this sport than anyone currently playing. And 19 years later I am watching a Western Conference finals game with a different 22 year old who has never played in the finals, who has never won a league mvp, going up against the two time defending league MVP and the defending champion. And I'm watching Victor when Benyama and I and I'm saying that guy is the best player alive. And if people are a little stunned hearing me make a LeBron Wimby comp, me too. And I'm not very, I'm not as interested as the Internet seems to be in. Is Wimby going to make the LeBron Jordan debate obsolete? We should check in on that in, you know, 10 to 20 years. That's not that, that is not in the short or even medium term achievable, that's a separate, that's a long term discussion. But what is a discussion in the immediacy right now is you have a phenom who arrived at the conference finals, stared across the court at a champion and a multi time MVP and said I got something for you. And to Damanza's point, he's a guy who as of yesterday had only played three games in his entire career where he touched 40 minutes, had played zero games his entire career where he touched 44 minutes, went into double overtime at 44 minutes, played the entirety of the double overtime and dominated it. It was the best player by a mile. And, and I thought, listen, I was live tweeting at the end of regulation that I thought the Thunder and we'll discuss it when we get to the play by play stuff. I didn't mind them getting a bad shot at the end of the shot clock when it was tied, not at the end of regulation, but at the end of the first overtime because I thought Wimby, even though he had just hit the three, was just going to be spent. He channeled something extra. And that shot he hit from almost the exact same spot on the court that Steph Curry hit, the most iconic shot of his career that happened to be in the regular season, but it was a Thunder warriors game 2016 en route to the unanimous MVP in 73 win season when Steph also pulled up from right around 30ft and jarred it. Wimby, who had only taken one three all game, who had done all his work on the inside because Chat refused to garden and instead he had J Dub or Alex Caruso. And we'll get into Alex Caruso who was brilliant. Wimby pulling up with 30 seconds left, down three in overtime, jarring that shot and then in double overtime adding nine more. It is quite simply the type of performance you remember forever. And. People that are high volume enough consumers of the content I produce I think have a very good handle on what my Wimby criticisms have been or haven't been and how most of them have been more media criticisms than the as a player criticisms. And most of my pumping the brakes has been about concern like just a long term injury concern because of the body type and height and history of all of that. Which it's not to say I didn't take, I think a strong run of them for the elbow to Nas Reed and some of the, you know, disagree with him on defense is 50% of winning an MVP. Those things are on the record and I stand by. But I have been not as quick as others and this can be a compliment or an insult to me. It's just what the record is to anoint him. And it's because I really believe in sports, the all time greats, the true legends anoint themselves. And that is what he did last night. He went into the building of the up to this point in the postseason, undefeated defending champs, watched their best guy win the award he wanted and then said for these next three hours I'm going to make it absolutely, unequivocally clear who the best goddamn basketball player walking the planet is. And that's what he did. And it is going to be much like in my opinion, LeBron took that title late May of 2007 and held that title until Christmas Day of 2018 when he tore his groin and then briefly snatched it back the following season when they won the title again. And then he got hurt again and he hasn't been the best player in the world since then. But LeBron essentially held that title uninterrupted for more than a decade. It's going to be hard to wrestle this thing out of Wimy's hands. And it doesn't mean by the way, they're going to win the championship. It doesn't even mean they're going to win this series. It does mean that last night was. A line in that, not sand. A line in the concrete moment where Victor when Benyama officially made it clear to every team in the league that wants to win a championship. In one way or another, you're going to have to go through me. And that's going to be the case for the rest of this decade and a good part of the next one.
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Do you think his competitiveness is his. Is his best attribute?
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No, I think probably 76 is his best attribute, but I think competitiveness is up there. I think. I think that. And on the competitiveness side, it was perfect how he followed in Akeem's footsteps. So a quick history lesson for the kids out there. Akeem Olajuwon in 1994 had arguably, and nobody says this, but it's certainly arguable, had arguably demons a the greatest individual season any player has ever had in the history of the sport. He won defensive player of the year. He won league mvp.
B
Oh, wow.
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He won Finals mvp. He won the championship. And he did it with zero teammates who were all stars. He did it with Mario Ellie and Robert Horry and Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell, role players. And Akeem saying, what if I'm the best offensive and defensive player in the league and we win the title? That was 1994, 1995. The Rockets is defending champs had a very mediocre season. They ended up trading for Clyde Drexler at the deadline because it did not look like they were going to defend their championship. And it looked like this was going to be David Robinson and the spurs year the spurs were the number one seed. They were five and oh in the regular season against the Rockets. And the Rockets in both of their first two playoff rounds faced elimination and then surged back to get to a conference finals. Robinson vs. Akeem. With Michael Jordan having returned and having been dispatched by Shaquille o' Neal and Benny Hardaway and Shaq looming in the finals. And Akeem is the not only defending champ, but defending everything. Defending champ, defending Finals mvp, defending defensive player of the year, defending league mvp, all of it. And before game two of that series, Akeem Olajuwon stood on the court and watched the NBA give the MVP award to David Robinson. Forget the fact that Akeem was nowhere close to winning mvp. He got one first place vote. His team was the sixth seed. There was at no point in the year when anyone thought Akeem was going to win mvp. But you know who thought he should have been the fucking mvp? Akeem. And in that game, Akeem Olajuwon to steal a quote from Michael Jordan took that personally. And David Robinson, who's one of the 35 greatest players of all time, got absolutely annihilated to the tune of akeem putting up 41 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks. Again, 41, 16, 4, 3 and 2 in a road win to take control of the comp Western Conference finals. That was May 24, 1995. And on May 18, 2026, Victor when Benyama watched SGA be handed the MVP award. An MVP that Shea was winning all year and that Wimby, now that the votes were are in, we saw, was never actually that close to winning. But you know who thought he should win it? Wimby. And Wimby responded with his own 41 point masterpiece. Akeem had 41, 16, 4, 3 and 2. Wimby at 4124, 3, 1 and 3 and a nice 30 foot three to force double overtime. It's so crazy. Wimby when he launched that three pointer demons a, he had 29 points in the game. He was having a really nice game, a good game. They were pro, they were going, you know, they looked like they were going to lose.
B
It's like a heat check from three type shot, right?
A
Except he had a heat check when he, he hadn't made a three all game.
B
Yeah.
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And it was, there were 30 seconds left in overtime. He had 29 points. He finished with 41. And much like Akeem, he was universally regarded or is universally regarded as the best defensive player in the world. And much like Aem when he has it going like that offensively, there is something, nothing you can do with him. Akeem was at the time, in my opinion the greatest mid range shooting big man of all time. Wimby is a, you know, just different in all of it. And you know, Akeem 610 and a half, Wimby seven six. But this is why I love sports history and this is why I love watching guys go on the journey of realizing their full potential. And it really is something else that Akeem, who I think it's fair to say has helped mentor Wendy Akeem right now is universally regarded as the greatest. Well, I shouldn't say universally because some people have joker ahead of him. They're wrong, but that's fine. Is widely regarded as the greatest international player of all time. Widely regarded as the greatest defensive player since Bill Russell. And Wimy's coming for all of that. Wimby's coming for greatest international player of all time. And maybe More Wimy's coming for greatest defensive player since Russell and maybe more. And the fact that they both in a conference finals, watched someone else win a league MVP and then went and said, nah, it's a goosebumps type of thing. All right, let's talk a little chat here to Monze 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, get a quote@libertymutual.com or with your local agent. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, Nick? Huge news. We created our own podcast called hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We. We just contributed to First People to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. Starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we. How do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and, well, we were thinking. I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember going down. Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad hey Jonas. And offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
B
Oh yeah. So him and Chet. Him and Chet kind of have a rivalry. Is it a little bit of a throwback to you having two players with actual beef considering it's not, it's rare these days.
A
Well, I don't know. It appears, it, it, it's one sided.
B
I was just about to say it seems like Wimby just, I don't think
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Chat's done anything to him. Yeah, I do think like there was like an under, I'm gonna get the details on this wrong but like an under 18 Olympics type of thing.
B
And, and Chet got the award. I don't know if it was like MVP of it. And Wimby did not like you could see.
A
Outplayed Chad. Wimby outplayed Chat but fouled out the US beat France and chat got MVP with like 10 points. Wimby had like 20 and somebody's team lost. And I, I was watching the clips of it this morning. Wimy's just like disconsolate.
B
Yeah.
A
I also think there is a, there can be only one like super tall, skinny.
B
Yes.
A
You know, shooter, the, all of it. And Wimy just wants to, just, just wants to destroy him.
B
Yeah.
A
And, and up to this point, Chat is not game for you. I mean, listen, we're going to talk about Alex Caruso during the show. Alex Crusoe was brilliant on both ends and you know how much I care about athletes getting in the gym and getting strong. Alex Crusoe being as strong as he is gives him oddly a fighting chance to disrupt Wimby. Yeah, like a little bit. We've seen Caruso, I mean again when we scored 40. I'm not, but we've seen Caruso guard Joker and give him a little, again a little bit of trouble. We see him guard Wimby and at least give him a little bit of trouble at times. Cruz is a foot shorter than Chad. Like the, the fact that they, they don't feel comfortable putting Chad on Rimmy. Chat finished second in the league in mvp. I'm sorry. In defensive player of the Year. Like it's so Chat's going. There was a wild. Sent me a tweet that I want to credit the. Let me see if I can find it real quick. This first, let me, this is from Dom underscore 2K. Who's I guess a you. Wow. Quarter of a million followers. So NBA TV association guy, YouTuber. So he's a big, he's a big guy on NBA Twitter and Twitch and all that. I, I, I don't say that dismissively. At all. I just didn't. When I, I didn't. I wasn't familiar with him, so my apologies. I probably should have been. But he wrote, I understand Chet just want a hoop, but unfortunately he's mentally going to have to participate in whatever this is Wimby got going on with him. That's correct. Like, it's the. Might be a one sided beef, but Chat's got to get himself amped up for his own side of it. Dom went on to write, never gonna match him as a player or physically, but the energy can't constantly be like Wimby just openly being like, yeah, that's Lil bro gonna have to participate in the rest of this eventually. That's correct. That's a great take. And that is correct. That is absolutely correct. Like, I don't know what Chet needs to do the. But he's got a, he's got a. Find a way to hate Wimby as much as Wimby hates him. Even if he's like, I didn't do anything to make you hate me, bro.
B
Like, I mean, the block. If the game would have ended like right after that would have been awesome. But.
A
So that was the thing. And I tweeted it, I said that was the best moment of Chet's career, dot, dot, dot. Maybe his life. Like the Chat getting that moment in that time. And had they, you know, had they won, that would have been. Who cares about the point totals or whatever. He came through when it was big. But aside from that, Chat was out of sorts. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna add something else here. See, I don't know where you stand on this. And again, maybe this is a little reactionary. Well, you know what, let's. Let's do the next two questions, then I'll give my potentially hot take.
B
So let's talk Shay SGA played 51 minutes, went 7 of 23 from the field. What did you make of his performance?
A
It wasn't good.
B
He looked out.
A
Now, I will say Stefan Castle had the. Hold on. Don't look at the box score. How many turnovers do you think Stefan Castle had?
B
I'll go five.
A
11.
B
Oh, Jesus.
A
Savon Castle had the quietest 11 turnover game I've ever seen. Like, when I say quiet, I mean it was. I was watching the whole game, obviously, and I. And then I heard Tarico just say as an aside, in one of the overtimes, that was Castle's 11th turnover.
B
I was like, and double OT. But I, yeah, I don't feel like turnovers CRA.
A
Usually when a guy has eight turnovers, it's one of the focal points of the game. It's like oh my God, that guy can't. It was. But it went hand in hand. Dylan Harper had seven steals, so I guess but so that's sidebar. It was just when I say quietest, like somehow Stefan Castle had 11 turnovers and I didn't think he played bad. I've never seen that before in my life. Shea on the other hand had a 20 point double double with 12 assists and I thought was really bad. And yesterday on the TV show when we found out Shea had won mvp, I gave my list of the nine greatest guards in NBA history in order and unlike when I did this a month ago, I didn't forget Steph Curry existed. And so the list went. Now I'm doing off top of my head, if I don't count up to nine here, I'm going to be very upset. The list went Michael, Magic, Kobe, Stephen West, Isaiah, Oscar, Dwyane Wade, Shea Shay at 9 with 10 being either Bob Koozie or Chris Paul. Choose your flavor. And I said if they win another title, if they win this title, he has to at the very least jump D. Wade and you can talk. If they win back to back titles and he's finals MVP again and you want to say that the five greatest guards ever are Michael, Magic, Kobe, Steph Shea, it's at least a legitimate argument that he jumps not only Wade, but Oscar, Isaiah and Jerry West. It's a legit argument if they win the title. But I was not yet ready to put him ahead of Dwyane Wade even though he has two league MVPs and Dwyane Wade has zero even though he has four seasons averaging 30 plus, I think Wade has one because. The accolades are going to need to really outstrip the eye test in order for me to move him ahead when I do feel like he is an all time great player who gets more of a production bump than any other all time great player I can remember from his hijinks with the officials. And once again last night he wasn't quite getting those calls. He was guarded more honestly if you will. And he just didn't have it. Now he's a great player. So some nights he won't get the calls, he'll get the exact same looks
B
less with his answers real quick.
A
Just, just, just real quick. Some nights he won't get the calls, he'll get the same looks as last night and he'll be 15 of 23 it's. I am not saying that without the calls, he's, you know, that he's fraudulent or he's not great. But I do think historically to Monze, he is more in line with Dwayne Wade, one of the 30 greatest players ever, than he is with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. But the numbers say he's eye to eye with Kobe and running down Michael and he's not. And so now what were you saying about the antics? Go ahead.
B
No, I mean, I just, I feel like he's a little less comic. He was a little bit less comical last night and has been since. I don't know.
A
I agree.
B
But yeah, it is a different game.
A
I think the. I, yeah. So I think people feel more comfortable guarding him. I thought yesterday, to the ref's credit, the refs let both teams guard very physically. It wasn't a one way street. And I think Shay got a little shamed. Yeah, like I, I, honest to God, I do. I think Shay, you know, remember when he did the. I don't need it. I think Shay strikes me as someone who is, who is quite online.
B
Right.
A
And I think he's, even if he's not, he was aware of what was being said and he's like, all right, I'm gonna show you guys which credit to him for cutting down some of the grifting, but does make him a little less unstoppable. Now I would expect him in game two to come out and score 35. He's a great player. All year long. I said he was the mvp, so I don't want to get this shit twisted, but he needed those overtimes to score 20. And I made this point for. I'll make it again. For a guy that for two straight regular seasons has scored 20 every single time and was this close to having his fifth postseason game in the same time frame, not scoring 20. It's noteworthy. I also think Shay might have just had the shortest tenure of best player alive in the history of any sport. It really felt like it was from the. Well, I mean, because it was. I think most people felt it was Joker going into this postseason. Right?
B
Yeah.
A
And then Joker loses and it's kind of like up for grab there. Well, it's kind of up for grabs. And then Wimby has his bad moment with the elbow. Shay gets announced as mvp and it felt like the moment like he was handed the trophy, it's like, all right, he's the two time mv. They're the defending champs. They're huge favorites. Wow. Congratulations. You're the best player alive. Might have been like 15 minutes, bro. And by, and by the end of the first quarter it's like, nope, it's the other guy. And so I don't even know how that, how that works out. All right, let's talk about who I thought was the second best player on the spurs last night. Yeah.
B
So Dylan Harper found out that he's going to be starting an hour before the game. Do you think that de' Aaron Fox got Drew Bledsold?
A
I don't know if he got Drew blood. So. And I think they're going to keep taking, putting, you know, taking Harper off the bench when Fox gets back. Here's what and this is the PR maybe prisoner of the moment take from me to Monse. I would rather moving forward have the Spurs Big three over the Thunder big three. And it's not close. Yeah.
B
What? No, no, easy. Just, I mean just honestly for me, just because Wimby's in there like you add the two.
A
Okay, so let's do it like so let me ask this though. Let me ask this though, because maybe the Wimby part is too tilting right. Remove Wimby and remove Shay Harper and Castle versus Chet and J Dub. Yeah, man. Dylan Harper is 20 years old in his first playoff run ever. What did he. I know he had seven steals. What? What did he have? Like 21 four, seven and seven. Something insane last night. I'm going to look real quick 24. No, I, I shortchanged him comfortable. 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, seven steals, one turnover. A plus 14.
B
Biggest game of his life. Found out he was starting an hour before the game.
A
Man, he was spectacular. And so I mean that is found gold for a team that moved way up in the lottery last year. And you know, I was, we, we discussed for this midway through the year because remember he went to and Con Caniple went three and the spurs didn't really have enough shooting. We thought maybe that. Oh, would the spurs have if they had to do it over again, would they flip flop it? And the answer to that is no, they would not.
B
Can hit a shot too.
A
Yeah, the. And so and then the other story of the game obviously was Alex Caruso who Rob Polinka wants. There's an unbelievable clip going all around of Alex Crusoe on a podcast discussing the Lakers lowballing him to keep Taylor Horton Tucker and that's why he went to the Bulls. No, that is true. That is true. After they won a championship with Cruz. So they lowballed him to keep Taylor Horton Tucker. And he's, you know, he is kindly but pretty clearly ripping Rob Pelinka for what he did on this podcast. And the host of that podcast who is cackling along with him, J.J. redick. That's true. Yeah.
B
Holy crap.
A
Member J.J. reddick hosted the old man in the three podcast.
B
Yeah.
A
Before he goes to the podcast with LeBron. So Crusoe is telling a story about how the Lakers screwed it up and how Blinka screwed it up, and JJ's just laughing about it now. Oh, J. It's pretty good. All right, let me there's what I want to do because it was such a great game. I want there were 15 critical moments, sliding doors moments. I want to get into all of those. But first, let me remind you, today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet. Florida's sportsbook. The NBA playoffs are here, the lights are brighter, the pressure's higher in every possession and can change a series. And on Hard Rock Bet, every night is your shot to score a major bucket with win or go home energy on the hardwood. I love building same game parlays. You might like the hot hand to drop 30, the big man to control the glass with a double double, the point guard to dish out five assists. However you draw it up, Hard Rock Bet gives you tons of ways to stack your picks into a same game parlay built for the playoffs. If you're ever late to tip off, don't worry, Hard Rock Bet lets you live bet all game long, from the first bucket to the final buzzer. Try your first bet on Hard Rock Bet today and you can score $150 in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet and if it hits, you get not only your winnings, but also an extra $150 in bonus bets. But the welcome offer is just the beginning. Hard Rock Bet has new promos daily, so open up the app right now to see what promo you've got today. And sure, Hard Rock Bet is Florida's only legal sportsbook, but you don't have to be in Florida to join the party. Hard Rock Bet is also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan, with more states on the way. Download the Hard Rock Bet app today and get the party started. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of 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, Mission, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply Concern about gambling In Florida, call 1833. Play wise. In Indiana, if you or somebody you know has a gambling problem wants help, call 1-800-9 with it in Arizona, Ohio, Virginia, call 1-800-my reset gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler all right, Damanze, let's go. There's a bunch of these. Let's go through the play by play. You tell me the time, score, situation, and I'm going to, you know, kind of take everybody back through it.
B
Okay. 320 left in regulation. Caruso cutting layup to cut it to 1,9190. Spurs is part of a 10 to 2 OKC run.
A
Yeah. So this is where. Because the. This was the first moment it felt like, man, the Thunder might steal this. The spurs had basically been in control for the entirety of the second half, but Caruso kept answering every Thunder, every Spurs run with a huge three. And that is an adjustment. I wonder if the spurs, if they're going to make an adjustment or not. They basically had Wimby on Caruso, which means no one was on Crusoe because Wimby's patrolling the paint. Caruso got open threes. This was his one layup. Now it's a one point game.
B
Next two minutes left. 94, 92 Spurs. Wimby goes full truck sticking to Caruso.
A
So in that moment, I thought Wimby had lost his cool.
B
Yeah.
A
And I also was watching to say, oh, man, are they going to make this a flagrant foul? I didn't think they. I didn't think they should, but I thought it was on the board because it seemed so bizarre. Like it, it. You're allowed to run full speed into a guy, but because kind of looked
B
at him, it looked like.
A
Like he looked at him and lowered his shoulder. Yeah. And the reason that was noteworthy was because Wimby is at two flagrant foul points, and at four, you're suspended for a game. So had they made that a flagrant foul, Wimby would have had no margin of error. They didn't. They just make an offensive foul and Caruso, you know, response, he didn't run over with this. Go ahead.
B
1:50 left, Caruso 3 to put OKC up 95, 94. And then that was immediately answered by Champagne.
A
Yeah. So I. The Champagne three with a little more than a minute left after OKC finally took the lead was one of like seven shots by San Antonio that if they miss, I think they lose. But he made it. They had a two. They had a two point lead. It then Is tied with a minute left. Go ahead.
B
Minute left in the game. OKC forces a turnover as a two on one. SGA keeps it and smokes a layup.
A
All right. Do you remember the play I'm talking about? Demase Caruso's running.
B
You should have passed it to him in that situation.
A
I feel like he has Caruso wide open ahead. Yeah, inexplicably keeps it. And that to me was as bad as any play SGA made all game where you, you've got the guy open and it's to take a lead. It's also, by the way, the guy who's open has been the best player on your team thus far and he kept it and then didn't make the layup. So we're still tied with 12 seconds left.
B
Out of sorts. 12 seconds left in the game. Wimby driving, spinning layup to take the lead immediately followed by an SGA drive by layup with Wimby stuck in the corner on Chip.
A
So that I thought was really interesting because I know the announcers said that Wimby has to stay out there to guard against the three. It did see. But if you watch it again, it did seem like Wimby had decided to come, but came a little late. Whatever it was. Stefan Castle thought he had helped baseline like Stefan Castle funnels Shea. Stevon Castle is a great defender. Savon Castle funnels Shea baseline and then nobody's there. Shea just lays it in. And then that then led to, I think a very interesting moment where.
B
Oh, sorry, go ahead. Three seconds. Best moment of Chad's life with SGA on the bench blocks Wimby.
A
So shout out to Chad. It's the only highlight he had all game. I. I still have a bit of a hard time with the visual of the reigning league MVP being subbed out for offense defense. And this is now. Since 2015. Yeah. There have been 12 MVP. MVP awards awarded, so to speak. Right. I said that correctly. Seven of those awards have gone to three guys who now all of whom I have seen this happen to. Steph, Joker and surprisingly now Shay where the coach is like really need a stop. Not saying you're a bad defender, just saying we have five better defender on
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the bench right now.
A
We have five better than you. That was, that was something. And listen, I think Shea is a good defensive player, but much like, you know, a different 6, 6 super efficient 30 point a game shooting guard from a previous era, I think his defense has been a touch overrated and he is consistently not tasked with guarding the other Players, the other team's best player or sometimes even second best player. And I thought it was really noteworthy that they said we've got, listen, we want our two big. So be it. We want Chet and Hartenstein out there, but we have three perimeter defenders we'd rather have out there than Shea. Which takes us to OT. Go ahead.
B
After a 50 run by OKC to take a one point lead, OKC gets a steal off Castle's 11th turnover. And AJ Mitchell takes a transition three with 90 seconds seconds left.
A
This was the second worst shot of the game. The spurs had control of the first overtime. OKC goes on a 50 run. All of a sudden the Spurs I think had had four straight empty possessions. There's 90 seconds left. OKC has the lead in the ball and AJ Mitchell, who had done nothing all game, took a slightly off balance early shot clock transition three. Brutal. Just brute like for the Thunder. You've got to in that spot, slow down, have the ball either in Shay's hands to make a decision or J Dub's hands or something. AJ Mitchell went for it, missed it. And all of a sudden it looks like oh, are the, are the spurs going to steal it back? And then though the Thunder get another stop which leads to this.
B
Caruso. Caruso fights for rebound, then throws it off Wimby. OKC ball up one with 108 left and SGA driving dunk puts them up three.
A
So that's going to be lost. I thought that was SGA's best moment of the game. Even better than the game tying layup because that seemed like a bit of a coverage bust by the Spurs.
B
Yeah.
A
And Caruso. That's the play where Caruso is falling out of bounds, fires it off.
B
Wimy crowds out of their mind when that. Those pictures. Yeah.
A
Spurs had a. Spurs had a challenge. The spurs could have called timeout and challenge. They didn't. And as bad as the A.J. mitchell play was, this next play is the one that's going to be really, really tough for the Thunder and film study next.
B
OkC up three with 35 seconds left. J has zero pass possession, takes an outrageous pull up jumper that misses by 3ft and leads to the Wimy 30 footer. When I seen, when I seen him take that shot, I was like, that's exactly what we need because I'm rooting against the spurs this whole series. I mean against the Thunder. Rooting against the Thunder. Perfect.
A
I couldn't believe it. I truly could not believe it.
B
There was a lot of, a lot of time on the shot clock still too.
A
You're up three. There's 15 seconds on the shot clock. There is no two for one component here at all. Because the spurs are going to have to go down and try to score as quickly as possible because they're down three if you miss. And for there to be zero passes and him to take an off balance contested mid range that went all the way hit the other side of the backboard was just unfathomable. Unfathomable. And then of course that leads to the WIM B3 which was just out of this world I didn't hate. Okay listen OKC, I think smartly their next possession there's 26 seconds left. I think Dagonal said we've got to shoot this so late on the shot clock because even if we, even if we make it, that doesn't guarantee us winning the game. Spurs. If we go quick and get a bucket then spurs have the ball with plenty of time down too. They could just beat us in regulation. If we wait till the very end we can make sure either we have a walk off winner. The spurs have almost no time. That's what happened. The spurs ended up having 0.7 left. Caruso gets the block at the rim. We go to double O T. So I didn't mind the Thunders final offensive possession but that J Dub offensive possession was a travesty. Now take us to double OT 3:40 left.
B
Wimby opens up scoring and double overtime with a dribble drive dunk from the top of the key followed by an SGA missed three.
A
Yeah, so that was, that was when you start to feel like oh Wimy might have more in the tank than we thought. Still though it's only spurs up one at the two minute mark which leads us to this one.
B
50 left after a Harper and one to go up four. SGA with a lazy one handed Panda Pass that gets stolen.
A
That's the moment where I thought game was over but it wasn't. And if you guys remember SGA is on the near side of the court. There's a little bit of action. I don't understand what he's even trying to do. Throws one handed, pasture down four. There's less than two minutes left now. You don't have the ball but still you're. They end up okay. I forget who I think. Caruso hits another huge three and so it spurs up one with one oh one left and then Wimby goes crazy. So just you can read the next two to M. Up one with one
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on one Wimmy gets matched up on Caruso gets the dunk and the end and then the an1 and then screams at Chet down 4, 45 seconds left. Russo has a layup altered by Wimy. Chet gets the rebound and gets blocked by Vassle leading to a wimy alley oop. And that's all she wrote.
A
Yeah, and that was the end. And the AJ Mitchell 3, the J Dub 0 pass pull up and Shea not passing it up court to Crusoe on the fast break are the offensive moments. The Thunder are going to say we let this one slip through. Now with that said, I do think it would have been a more devastating loss for San Antonio just given how the game went with the spurs being in control most of the time. But this is a hard one to get over for everyone involved. All right, that was an hour on one of the best basketball games of the decade. I don't think we wasted a minute on it. Yeah, we will now get into silly petty media drama. But first, Boost Mobile is proving you don't have to overpay for great wireless Unlock the savings with the 25amonth Forever Unlimited plan. It's a permanent price 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 price@boostmobile.com 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 boostmobile.com all right, Damanze, go ahead and set up the beef. We didn't know we needed Jalen Brown Against Stephen A. Smith Confrontation between Jaylen
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Brown and Stephen A. Smith's been brewing. After a few comments back and forth, Jalen said on Sunday, you want me to be quiet and stop streaming? Well, I want you to get off these networks because you're not using your platform to do real journalism. You're using your platform to do clickbait. Tell this guy to retire. Said something else. And then Stephen A Stephen A Response Jaylen Brown Be careful what you wish for. You really want me to start reporting on that level? Locker room? How the organization might feel about you, How Jason Tatum might feel about you? You're on Twitch trying to do what I do. It makes no sense. What is your take on this story?
A
Okay, first of all, let me just answer Stephen A's question on Jaylen Brown's behalf. Yes, please Please, if you, if you have real information that is not public that you can credibly report about Jason Tatum's feelings about Jaylen Brown, you should report it. If you have real information about the Celtics organization, how they feel about Jaylen Brown that you're just sitting on, yes, you should report it. Like once upon a time, Stephen A. Was a legitimately great reporter. And I have for years defended Stephen A. When people act like he didn't put the work in this guy put every level of work in imaginable to get to the top of the field, then had it taken from him. Kind of had a huge show on ESPN back when I was interning at ESPN Radio in New York, when he had a show there too, that quite, quite frankly lost that and then built it all the way back up to where he's the biggest name in the space and still works as much as anybody in the business at all times is working. So there's a lot of Stephen A. That I think is admirable and young people can learn from. But these last few years where he has convinced himself it appears that we the commentariat, we the critics, we the people who give opinions on the actual games are equal stars and equal of importance to the people who are playing the actual games is delusional. And Stephen A. In this rant, one of the things he throws at Jaylen Brown is you, you're on a $300 million contract. Let's unpack that just a bit to just level set the way this thing is supposed to work. Jalen Brown is, I don't know, let's call him roughly the 10th best player in the NBA. I think that's probably about right thereabouts. He is as the 10th best player on a $300 million contract, Stephen A. As the number one guy in the entire industry of what we do is on. And I only know this because he made sure everybody knew it, is on a $100 million contract. So while God bless him and credit to him and I appreciate it, the rising tide, raising all boats, that is a little reminder that no matter how big the commentator gets, he'll never be quite as big as the people he's commenting on. If the 10th or 11th best guy in just one of the sports you cover is by your own metric 3xing the salary, it's a good idea of where we stand in the marketplace. Which is why, and this is the thing, and I don't even really care so much about the on court or in stadium walk ins where they, they Present Stephen A's arrival as if he is Chad Holmgren. That is fine. I. That's fine. It's kind of charming. It's. It's. Some would call it cringe, some would call it funny. It's funny, whatever it is, right? It's funny. And so like. And there's no actual harm in that. There's none. But talking to these guys like you're a mob boss and they better watch what they say. There's harm in it. And I am not. I am. I, I am very rarely in feel like I am in position to give any senior journalists, journalists or commentators or opinionists who are older than me advice. I try. I give it to younger folks if folks ask for it. But I will. And listen, maybe he'll be mad. I. But this is good advice, man. This is the way this has to work and the only way it works. We can say whatever we're going to say. While understanding that it is oddly probably good for us professionally in the attention economy if folks fire back, but also having the understanding that if they fire back, that kind of ends it. Like, I, I'll give you my own. And I might not have explained that perfectly, but let me give you my own little instance here, right? I had the unintentional controversy of calling Lamello Ball a clown, right? He didn't fire back, but his friends and family and everyone around him did. And you know what the response to that is? Hey, stand by what I said. But I understand why you guys have his back. Not, you know, not all of a sudden, let's escalate this war.
B
Yeah.
A
And the reason for that is. And this is where the. I think it's good advice. The audience appreciates us as side attractions to the big tent they came for. We are the ring toss and the dunk tank at the circus, but we're not the lions jumping through flaming hoops. We are added benefit to the main event. And if anybody ever gets it a little twisted that no, actually I'm the main event. In my experience, the audience, even if they think Jaylen Brown's twitch streams are absurd, which I think most people do, even if they think that Jalen Brown has handled his offseason poorly the way I think many people do, are going to see this and be like, wait, what are you saying, bro? Are you. Are you telling, are you telling this superstar athlete to stay in his lane? Are you, you know, late 50s, early 60 year old man getting in a war of words with a 29 year old? Is that what's Happening and it makes all of us look bad, man. And also, here's the other thing. You're the only guy who does it. Like, there's like, some of the former athletes turned commentators will get in this tet a tet with the athletes. That'll happen, but nobody else is just constantly using their platform to run back the same playbook that, if we're being totally honest, we saw you run on Kevin Durant, I wanna say, almost a decade ago, where you stare down the barrel of the camera and you're like, don't make me report what I know. It's like, bro, if, if, you know, report whatever you want. But these veiled. You don't know how much power I have threats like, come on. Like, really, like what? Like, what are we doing? And again, I'm not. I, you know, I have my own foibles and flaws from ego or as a broadcaster or whatever it is. But I can promise you this, I promise you this, that I understand one of the taxes of being the style of broadcaster that I am, which occasionally ruffles some feathers, will occasionally rise to the level of the awareness of the people you're talking about, is that when they fire back, even if it is, in your opinion, inaccurate, misleading, unfair. The answer is not to go to the mattresses and escalate. The answer is to stand by what you said, have a smile on your face, and recognize people are here to see them. They are so popular and so important in the cultural zeitgeist that we make a king's ransom with our only value being talking about them. That's the. That's. And if. If you want to change that paradigm, then you have to move from commentator to actual performer to the, you know, to use the. Teddy Roosevelt or Franklin Roosevelt. I always get this wrong. Producers check me on this. Which Roosevelt is, I want to know. But it's the LeBron quote that he loves so much. You've got to actually be the man in the arena. Teddy Roosevelt. Thank you. And if you're not, you're always going to look a little foolish trying to go bar for bar with the guys who are. Like you. It's also one of the reasons bigger picture take, then we'll move on. I said five minutes. It's been 10, maybe longer. I do think fans like media on media beefs. I don't think it makes people feel uncomfortable. I don't think people get like, turn away cringeworthy, whatever it is. I do think people, for some reason or another, are. It's a little Reality TV ish. They are a little interested in that because we're all swimming in the same lanes. But I just. I can't. I can't wake up another morning and be scrolling Twitter and see the latest superstar athlete that Stephen A. Has issued a veiled threat to via the A block of first take. I just can't believe it. I just. Can you imagine for real, if after. If after the Lonzo stuff, if instead of the next day I came out wearing a clown wig or nose, I was like, you don't want me to pull your driving records from Slovenia or Lithuania when you were overseas. You don't want me to dig into the HOA violations from that house you put the go kart track on the roof of. You don't want me to do it.
B
I know stuff, man.
A
I know stuff. I know technically it's my job to report the things I know, but I know it. And I just keep in my back pocket in case I ever have to use it. Like the big joker in a spades game. Give me a break. NFL schedules out. One of the best parts of the schedule release. Going to a game in person. I'm gonna get some Chiefs tickets. You guys know where I'm gonna get them? SeatGeek. This sponsor, today's video. I use them all the time. I'm also going to use them. I don't know what the. Okay, yeah, I can say this. I'm going to use them for some World cup tickets. You know what I've learned more and more. I don't have quite as much juice as I would have thought as far as, hey, can I have free tickets? The answer is no. You got to buy them. So that's why I use SeatGeek. Over 35 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app. More than 70,000 events listed on SeatGeek, including concerts, sports festivals and more. Baseball's in full swing. NBA and NHL playoffs are here. NFL schedule is out, and you can get World cup tickets on SeatGeek again. So, like now tonight, there's a Knicks game at msg. I do have to tell you, you can use promo code, right? 10, which gets you 10 off any tickets. These, even on Seatgeek. These next tickets are. I mean, they're. They're MSG. You can't. You can't throw people a deal. I don't know. Here's the bright side, though. If you want to go to the Knicks game on SeatGeek, which I have pulled up right here, is. Is MSG the most expensive place in America to go to a sporting event. Yes, but on SeatGeek, at least you know what the best deal is. At least you know where you know if you're going to be paying this much money. Is it a good view? Is it a good deal? You know, what did tickets in that section go for? And flip side of that is if you're like, hey, what if I go to a game? What if I want to see the Knicks play and I just want to go to Cleveland to see a game? You do that, all of a sudden, promo code, right? 10 takes you even further. You got lower level seats. It's great view. Go to Cleveland, see the game. If you're here in New York, go to msg. Either way, it's what I use at all times to get my tickets. They have your back. Each ticket's rated on a scale of 1 to 10. So you know you're getting a good deal. Big green dot means a good deal. Little red dot means stay away. Plus every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And as I told you, I have a code for you guys. Use code, right? 10 for 10 off your next set of tickets at Seatgate. Seatgeek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code, right? 10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. Thank you to SeatGeek. All right, Daman, very quickly, Eastern Conference
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finals, game one of the Eastern conference finals tonight you made your series pick on TV for game one. Do we think we remember the Knicks offense was humming, but they've had a little bit of a break. Do you think they'll have a little bit of rust coming into this series?
A
They might have a little bit of rust, but I don't think. I think what will matter more is Cleveland's got to be spent back to back seven game series. The history of that is not good. I think the only team ever to make the finals after back to back seven game round ones is the 08 Celtics. And the emotion of those first two rounds, I think that'll work against them. OG is also supposed to play. I do want to ask you one question on this demons A. Who do you think is better, Jalen Brunson or Donovan Mitchell?
B
Oh, I honestly, I feel like. I feel like Jalen Brunson might be a little bit more consistent than Donovan
A
Mitchell, but so I agree with you. I'd rather have Jalen. It's very close, but I agree with you. The reason I ask is the Knicks so desperately wanted to get Donovan, he got traded to the Cavs and Jalen ended up being like the consolation prize. And now I think Jalen's been a touch better. Yeah. Now that can flip in this series but I I do think that this is the Knicks series to lose. I think the Knicks win tonight and I think that if the Knicks can win this series in five and if Spurs Thunder goes seven, no matter who wins, I'll give the Knicks a real shot to win. I think there is an I could see an element of a decade ago now. Again the Knicks don't have the greatest player of all time at the peak of his powers in LeBron but 2016 Western Conference Finals spur I'm sorry Thunder warriors being an epic seven game series that the warriors escape and then the warriors run out of gas at the end of the actual finals and the Cavs who were, you know, probably looked at as the third best team going into the conference finals with the Warriors Thunder and then LeBron and the Cavs. The I wonder if the Knicks could potentially recreate something and I also if people are upset like I don't think the Cavs can win this series. The we'll see but I think that the Knicks are the Knicks have been unbelievable this postseason and the Cavs had needed seven games to beat the Raptors and beat a Piston scene that was just broken. So the you know, apologies for not so much there. We spent an hour and 10 minutes on last night's epic game and 10 minutes on Stephen A versus Jalen Brown. So such is life. We the plan is to be back Thursday, maybe live, maybe not. We'll see how it depends on the connection from the hotel room. But we will put something up on Thursday. Again, the way to make sure to know when we're live or when we're not is subscribe to the show on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, huge shout out to our sponsors, Hard Rock, bet, Boost Mobile and the great people at seatgeek. Thank you to Blue Duck. Thank you to Volume. Great job to Monze. Thank you to the spurs and the Thunder for an unbelievable game one last night. Talk to you guys in about an hour on cowherd. What's right. This is an iHeart podcast.
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Guaranteed Human.
Date: May 20, 2026
In this episode, Nick Wright and co-host Damanze break down what Wright calls possibly "the best game you've ever seen" — the double-overtime Western Conference Finals Game 1 between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. The conversation focuses almost entirely on the game's high drama, the dominant performance of Victor Wembanyama ("Wemby"), the struggles of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA), critical play-by-play moments, and broader implications for the series and the NBA at large. Additional segments cover the emerging rivalry between Wemby and Chet Holmgren, media beef between Jalen Brown and Stephen A. Smith, and a brief preview of the Eastern Conference Finals.
“In this very moment, Victor Wembanyama is the best player alive.” (Nick Wright, 13:02)
“It is quite simply the type of performance you remember forever.” (Nick Wright, 11:44)
“There can be only one super tall, skinny shooter, and Wemby wants to destroy him.” (Nick Wright, 27:07)
“I thought SGA was really bad… I do think he’s more in line with Dwyane Wade, one of the 30 greatest players ever, than he is with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.” (Nick Wright, 34:51)
“Dylan Harper… 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, seven steals, one turnover, a plus 14… Man, he was spectacular.” (Nick Wright, 40:13)
“We can say whatever we're going to say… but also understand that if they fire back, that kind of ends it.” (Nick Wright, 62:48)
“We are the ring toss… we’re not the lions jumping through flaming hoops.” (Nick Wright, 65:34)
Wemby as "best player alive"
“He went into the building of the undefeated defending champs, watched their best guy win the award he wanted, and said for these next three hours I’m going to make it unequivocally clear who the best goddamn basketball player walking the planet is.” (Nick Wright, 13:02)
Akeem and Wemby historic comparison:
"[Akeem Olajuwon in 1995] took it personally… and David Robinson… got absolutely annihilated... On May 18th 2026, Victor Wembanyama watched SGA be handed the MVP award... and responded with his own 41-point masterpiece." (Nick Wright, 17:30–21:40)
Wemby vs. Chet rivalry quote:
“It’s a one-sided beef, but Chet’s got to get himself amped up for his own side of it.” (Nick Wright, 28:58)
Dylan Harper's breakout:
“Biggest game of his life. Found out he was starting an hour before the game.” (Damanze, 40:09)
SGA’s “best player alive” tenure:
“I also think SGA might have just had the shortest tenure of best player alive in the history of any sport… [it] might have been like 15 minutes, bro.” (Nick Wright, 38:00)
Media vs. Athletes: "We are added benefit to the main event. And if anybody ever gets it a little twisted that no, actually I’m the main event… the audience… are going to see this and be like, ‘wait, what are you saying, bro?’” (Nick Wright, 65:34)
This conversation was a deep dive into NBA history in the making, the rise of Victor Wembanyama, the fine margins of playoff basketball, and the shifting sands of the league’s power structure. Critical moments were dissected in real time, giving listeners the feeling of having witnessed — or relived — an instant classic, while also understanding its place in a larger sporting narrative. Wright’s blend of basketball analysis, history, and no-bullshit commentary delivers a vibrant recap for anyone not in front of the TV for Spurs-Thunder Game 1.