Tag: Nick Wright

Vikings pick their punter

The punt off is over before it started

After an announced punt off during this Saturday’s game against the Denver Broncos, the Minnesota Vikings made their decision two full days before the game was set to begin.

The Vikings chose to release punter Jordan Berry in favor of Tulane rookie Ryan Wright.

Wright had himself a really good performance against the San Francisco 49ers with a 47.5 average yards per punt, a full 2.8 yards better than Berry.

After spending six seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Vikings signed Berry to be the punter for the 2021 season. He averaged 46.5 yards per punt over 78 total punts.

Being that Berry was on a veteran minimum deal, the Vikings will save $188,334 in cap space.

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Nick Wright: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest player ever

Although Fox Sports 1 personality Nick Wright frequently fawns over LeBron James, he thinks another Laker was the greatest NBA player ever.

Fox Sports 1 personality Nick Wright is well known for his strong opinion that LeBron James is a better player than Michael Jordan, whom many regard as the greatest NBA player ever.

Some may say it’s a generational thing. Wright is a millennial, and millennials and members of Generation Z are much more likely to put James over Jordan than those who have been around longer.

However, Wright surprisingly doesn’t think the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is the greatest of all time.

Instead, he thinks a former Lakers great deserves that spot.

While on “The Dan Patrick Show,” he said that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the greatest player in the history of the sport (in his opinion).

“If we were to say: Take the guys who are candidates for the greatest of all time in any sport. Nobody has more championships than him (Abdul-Jabbar) of the GOAT candidates. He has scored the most points, goals, or runs, whatever the sport is, of all the candidates – in fact, of everyone in history, and has the most league MVPs of everyone in history, it would not be controversial to say he should be in the discussion.”

“Jordan’s pinnacle, his peak, one could argue, was higher than anybody else’s. However, the second place on that list might be Shaquille O’Neal, so why is Shaquille O’Neal not in the top five, top six, top seven? He didn’t do it long enough. Kareem has more seasons where he was a top-five MVP vote-getter than Michael Jordan has seasons.”

“… Michael Jordan was a very good college player, good enough that people said I’d rather have Sam Bowie. In high school, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went 79-2, and I’m told Michael Jordan got cut from his team. Now I’m sure it was a very good team he got cut from, but Kareem wasn’t getting cut. I just think Kareem has the better basketball life than Michael Jordan.”

One of Wright’s main points is Abdul-Jabbar’s longevity. He mentioned the former Lakers great won the NBA Finals MVP at age 38 and was still a very good player at age 40, while Jordan wasn’t quite at the same level at the same ages.

Unfortunately, because Abdul-Jabbar had a reputation for being introverted and even difficult to deal with for the media during his playing days, he often gets shortchanged in this debate, especially by those who were too young to watch him play live.

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Kevin Durant eviscerated ‘peasant’ Nick Wright for suggesting his life is anything short of incredible

Don’t worry about Kevin Durant. He will tell you that he is fantastic.

Don’t worry about Kevin Durant. He will tell you that he is fantastic.

Yet, for some reason, FS1’s Nick Wright decided to tell the world that he feels bad for Durant. Wright’s reasoning was that Durant was considered the second-best player in the world (only to LeBron James) for a decade, and then right when consensus opinion finally favored Durant, boom. Enter: Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Last season, Antetokounmpo’s Bucks eliminated the Nets in the postseason and subsequently won the NBA title. These days, at least in Wright’s estimation, everyone (except for maybe JJ Redick) has Giannis “ranked” above KD.

Wright believes that it’s a string of events that follow a pattern for Durant.

He noted that Durant was also the second-best recruit out of high school, then he was chosen as the second pick in the draft. But it’s a tired narrative used to criticize Durant that doesn’t hold water.

As the Brooklyn superstar tweeted: “Don’t feel bad for the God. Life has been incredible little Nicky.”

Then, Durant replied to another tweet from Wright, in which the FS1 news personality wondered about labels.

Like a fool, Wright also tweeted: “if KD is a ‘God’, what does that make Giannis?”

Durant replied, adding: “A god. Just like you are but u rather be a peasant.”

My goodness. Did he call him a peasant? He lit him up!

For a good reason, too, as Durant is right. Wright’s point is without merit. Durant has had nothing but success at the highest level, every single step of the way.

The former Texas standout was consensus national college player of the year, then won Rookie of the Year in his first professional campaign. He was able to win his first gold medal at the Olympics in 2012, and he has since won two more.

Most important: Durant has climbed the highest mountain as he is a two-time NBA champion and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. He has won Most Valuable Player during the regular season, too. He is a 12-time All-Star, twice winning MVP honors in the exhibitions.

Meanwhile, his career earnings will reach $300 million by next season. He has had lucrative endorsement deals with Nike, Gatorade, and Sprint. Durant launched Thirty Five Ventures, a production company that won at the Oscars in 2021. He is the minority owner of a professional soccer team in the MLS.

I’ve always wondered where he finds the time to read (and care about) tweets like this one from Wright. But as he has said, there is no relax, champ. No relax when he is on Twitter. He is on 10 until the second that he closes the app.

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Nick Wright explains why Nets should trade James Harden to Sixers now

Nick Wright of First Things First explains why the Brooklyn Nets should send James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers now.

With the trade deadline roughly 48 hours away, all eyes remain on the situation surrounding James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Brooklyn Nets are on an eight-game losing skid, and Harden can be a free agent in the 2022 offseason.

With the way Brooklyn’s season is going, it doesn’t look like he will elect to stay.

With all of the smoke of the last couple of weeks, the writing seems to be on the wall that Harden will end up with the Sixers. He has a great relationship with co-managing partner Michael Rubin as well as president Daryl Morey and it makes sense that he would want to be in Philadelphia.

The question then becomes will the Nets move Harden before the deadline or risk losing him in the offseason? Nick Wright of “First Things First” believes the Nets need to move Harden to the Sixers now:

I think it would be a grievous mistake for Brooklyn not to move Harden before Thursday because whether they have accepted it or not, James Harden is going to be a Philadelphia 76er for Game 1 of next season. The only real question that remains is will he be the Philadelphia 76er before Game 1 of next season.

Wright went into how Morey and the Sixers can get Harden in the offseason despite being a bit strapped for cash at the moment:

Daryl Morey, once upon a time when he was running the Rockets, wanted to sign Chris Paul, and the Clippers were like, ‘well, you don’t have the cap space and we’re not going to sign and trade him to you.’ So Daryl Morey made sure the Clippers knew that, OK, but if I just stretch and waive Ryan Anderson, I will have the cap space. So it probably makes more sense for all parties involved for us to get together and do a trade and they did. And the Clippers got Pat Beverley and (Lou) Williams and Montrezl Harrell and it’s like ‘hey, they got something for Chris Paul.’ That is the road the Nets are barreling toward this summer. If they don’t trade him now, here’s all the Sixers have to do. You call up Oklahoma City or Detroit or San Antonio or Houston, any of those teams, Orlando, and you say, would you like Ben Simmons? We would like draft picks, and you let them bid against each other and you trade Ben Simmons into those teams’ ample bounty of cap space. You then call the same group of teams and say would you like Tobias Harris? If not, they construction waive Tobias Harris and voila. They have the cap space to sign James Harden outright and the Nets are staring at a nuclear summer.

The trade deadline is coming down to the wire and there will be a lot of negotiations and a lot of noise going on until the 3 p.m. EST buzzer on Thursday.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Kyrie Irving calls Nick Wright a ‘puppet’ for comments on recent trade controversy

Nets star Kyrie Irving sounded off on Fox Sports host Nick Wright.

On Wednesday, Fox Sports host Nick Wright, made a tweet indicating that Nets star Kyrie Irving would retire if the Nets traded him. Although there were rumors swirling around that the 29-year-old guard could be traded, the Nets have done nothing but indicate that Irving is a key part of their long-term plans.

During this offseason, Nets GM Sean Marks made it known that he wants to extend Irving’s contract with Brooklyn. After already securing Kevin Durant until 2025, this has been on Marks’ checklist for a long time now. In 74 games with the Nets, Irving has averaged 27 PPG, 6.1 APG and 4.9 RPG.

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Nick Wright claims Kyrie Irving would retire if the Nets traded him

Nick Wright says Kyrie Irving would retire if the Nets traded him.

Fox Sports’ Nick Wright has admitted that there are many trades revolving around Kyrie Irving that would “make sense” for the Nets to make. Wright’s comments fall in line with the rumors of the Nets guard getting moved this summer. Surprisingly so, the Fox Sports analyst claims that Irving would retire if Brooklyn traded him:

“There are a handful of Kyrie trades that potentially make sense for the Nets, Kyrie’s agents have made it known that Kyrie would simply *retire from the NBA* if Brooklyn were to trade him.”

It seems like the Nets will have to roll with Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden at the wheel for the next few years, which is not a bad thing at all. If a team can attract star power it’s best to continue what you are doing so that future stars can see the franchise as a potential destination.

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WATCH: FS1’s Nick Wright covered in ketchup & mustard post-Bills bet

Fox Sports’ Nick Wright does Buffalo Bills ketchup and mustard bath.

For those paying attention, this one needs little introduction.

FS1 analyst Nick Wright has been in a heated battle with Bills fans over social media for numerous reasons. Mostly because he does not Bill-eve much in Buffalo.

Unfortunately for him, he let his mouth do a little too much talking a few weeks back.

While appearing on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Wright made a bet with the host. He said he’d do the classic Bills Mafia ketchup and mustard covering if he lost the bet, which involved the Bills advancing to the AFC Championship Game.

Well, here we are and the Bills are still playing.

Finally on Wednesday, Wright honored his bet and it happened. Ketchup and mustard all over him.

At least he’s a man of his word.

Check out the losing of the bet here:

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Nick Wright believes Patriots will be the landing spot for Le’Veon Bell

Wright believes the Patriots will end up landing running back Le’Veon Bell.

With the New York Jets releasing running back Le’Veon Bell on Tuesday, media pundits are already speculating that the New England Patriots will land the running back.

The former Pittsburgh Steelers star had an unceremonious tenure with the New York Jets. He recorded 264 yards and three touchdowns in 17 games with New York between the 2019 and 2020 seasons. That marked a stark change from his production in Pittsburgh where he was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and a two-time First-team All-Pro.

Wright believes that the Patriots will sign Bell and in turn form a dangerous pairing with quarterback Cam Newton. That could certainly add another layer of explosiveness in the New England offense.

“I’m prematurely angry about it,” Wright said. “Because in three weeks, the New England Patriots are going to have Cam Newton and Le’Veon Bell for a combined salary of like one Taysom Hill game check. And I’m going to lose my bleeping mind. Because there’s no running back that would fit what the Patriots like to do (better) than L Bell.”

Although the move is intriguing, New England already has several running backs on the team. One has to wonder where Bell would fit in if he were to sign with the Patriots.

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Nick Wright predicts Broncos will go 3-13 in 2020

Nick Wright of FS1 has predicted a dismal season for the Broncos.

On Tuesday’s episode of ‘First Things First‘ on FS1, Nick Wright revealed his AFC predictions for the 2020 NFL season. Wright predicted the Denver Broncos will finish 3-13, good for a last-place finish in the AFC West.

Here are his predictions for the final standings in the division:

Kansas City Chiefs 14-2
Las Vegas Raiders 10-6
Los Angeles Chargers 6-10
Denver Broncos 3-13

Wright was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri and he started his radio career there. It seems pretty clear that he has a bias toward the Chiefs.

“You can’t try to stop the Chiefs’ offense,” Wright said on Tuesday. “No one has been able to do it when Patrick Mahomes has been healthy his entire career. So your only choice is to try to . . . get in a shootout and outscore them.

“The problems for the other teams in the AFC West are three simple words. And those words are Taylor, Carr and Lock.”

Wright’s prediction brings back memories of when NFL.com’s Adam Rank predicted Denver would go 2-14 in 2019. The Broncos finished the year with a 7-9 record, good for second place in the AFC West.

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