What's Wright - Best Of - Nick Wright vs. The Ball Family, NBA Playoff Predictions, Spurs CATASTROPHIC mistake

Welcome to What’s Right with Nick Wright, our best-of-the-week—kick back and enjoy the highlights.

The Hornets win goes to overtime, but the story is Lamelo’s trip on Bam and your “clown” comment that sparked pushback from Lonzo and LaVar—do you rethink any of it?

I didn’t realize how loaded that word feels to some people, so I’ll walk back the “always clowning” part, thanks to Brew checking me in real time, but I still stand by the core critique.

If swapping the word helps, call it wildly immature on and off the floor—gaudy shot selection in the biggest moments, drifting on defense, and dropping an f-bomb live on the league’s broadcast show a lack of awareness.

Off the court, the driving videos and that reckless pattern speak for themselves, and on the court he clearly swept Bam’s legs, which is dangerous no matter how you slice it.

I’ve long respected Lonzo as a pro and even defended LaVar back in the day before we had our own run-in; Lamelo’s a special talent and I genuinely hope he grows up and makes this take look dated.

He avoids suspension and gets fined—was that enough?

A suspension would’ve been fair, but the precedent wasn’t there, so the league hit him with the stiffest fines and upgraded it to a flagrant two retroactively.

Hard fouls happen, but undercutting or swiping legs is a bright red line for me, and it was wild that the broadcast barely sat with how big that moment was.

After forgetting Steph on a list and then the Lamelo blowback, what’s on the menu today?

Hoping for a quiet one, and the Steph omission was on me—no excuses.

Spurs-Nuggets to close the season: was that loss something or nothing?

It was a self-inflicted mess by San Antonio—resting Wimby and losing gave them Denver in round two, which is the last team they match up with now that Joker drags bigs away from the rim and Murray’s rolling.

Biggest winner was OKC, who dodge that war while Spurs and Nuggets pound each other; had San Antonio finished the job, I might’ve picked them to coast to the conference finals.

Did Denver even try to win that game?

They prioritized health, but their guys on the floor still competed; the real misstep was the Spurs not saving Wimby for the one seed-shifting game that mattered.

Orlando lost home court to Boston’s bench—what happened to a team you liked early?

They traded a ton for Desmond Bain, Paolo plateaued, the three never came, and the vibe with Mosley feels off—then they got cooked by deep reserves setting career highs and now face a road play-in.

Hawks and Raptors flip spots—who benefits more, Knicks or Cavs?

Cleveland’s happier; New York would’ve loved Toronto, while Atlanta’s been excellent since the break, so I see Knicks-Hawks going the distance with Brunson deciding it at the Garden.

Quick bracket: OKC sweeps the eight, Spurs in five, Denver over Minnesota in six, and Rockets over Lakers in six unless injuries swing things; East side, Detroit in five, Boston over Philly in six, Knicks over Hawks in seven, Cavs in six.

Round two gives OKC in five and Denver in six out West, Detroit in six and Boston in six out East; conference finals are Nuggets over Thunder in seven and Celtics over Detroit in six, with Boston beating Denver in a game seven at home.

If Knicks-Hawks reaches seven, I lean Atlanta, and I could see Spurs pushing Denver to the brink.

I’ll ride with Brunson at home, and even with a few differences, we both land on the same finish line—Celtics as champs, which tracks with the odds and feels right.