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Nick Wright (sportscaster)

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Nick Wright
Born
Nicholas James Wright

(1984-10-03) October 3, 1984 (age 40)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
EducationSyracuse University (BS)
Occupation(s)Sports television personality
Sports radio talk show host
Notable credit(s)First Things First
What's Wright? with Nick Wright

Nicholas James Wright (born October 3, 1984) is an American sports television personality, sports podcaster, and former sports radio talk show host. Wright is a co-host on Fox Sports 1's First Things First (FTF) alongside Kevin Wildes and Chris Broussard. Wright also hosts his podcast What's Wright? with Nick Wright with Damonza Byrd.

Early years

[edit]

Nick Wright was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri.[1] He attended Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism in 2007.[2] While at Syracuse, he worked at WAER-FM as sports talk director.[3] Shortly after graduating, he was a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.[2]

Sports broadcasting career

[edit]

After graduating from Syracuse, Wright began his sports broadcasting career as production assistant and weekend host for the KCSP 610 AM radio station,[4] based in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.[5] He then began hosting What's Wright with Nick Wright?, his own weekly program on the station.[2][4] The Pitch, a local Kansas City newspaper, called Wright "610 Sports' most polarizing and likely most popular host," and also named him the best sports personality in 2010.[6] Following his time in Kansas City, Wright co-hosted In the Loop with Nick and Lopez on KILT 610 AM, a Houston-based radio station.[7][8]

Wright parlayed his experience in sports radio into a broadcast television career as he began working with Fox Sports in 2016.[9] His early work at Fox involved regularly contributing to FS1's daily studio shows.[4] He often appeared as a guest host of The Herd.[4] In late December 2016, Wright and former wide receiver Cris Carter co-hosted an episode of The Herd, while its regular host Colin Cowherd was out for vacation.[10] Then-Fox Sports executive Jamie Horowitz used Carter and Wright's co-hosting venture to test their chemistry together, in order to assess the potential of them co-hosting a daily morning sports talk show on FS1.[10] At the time, the early morning block (6:00–9:30 AM EST) was "a black hole for FS1", according to Sporting News, as the network used that slot for game replays and reruns of other shows.[10]

Carter and Wright proved to be a successful pairing, as they were then paired up to host FS1's morning talk show First Things First, which premiered on September 5, 2017.[9] Carter and Wright were joined by reporter Jenna Wolfe, who fills the show's moderator and anchor role.[11][12] First Things First also functioned as a lead-in program for Skip and Shannon: Undisputed.[9] In 2018, it was announced Wright would begin hosting What's Wright, a weekday radio show on Sirius XM's Mad Dog Radio.[13]

In June 2019, Wright received media attention for making an inaccurate claim during an episode of First Things First about the awarding of the 2015 NBA Finals MVP Award to Andre Iguodala. After multiple Finals MVP voters and an NBA representative debunked Wright's version of events, Wright apologized.[14]

In February 2020, Wright said about the Golden State Warriors trade for Andrew Wiggins, "Wiggins is a bad basketball player", and that the trade jeopardized any future success: "We will never see Steph [Curry] in another NBA Finals. Ever. They have no path forward."[15] Wright's take on Wiggins received pushback, particularly after the Warriors won the 2022 NBA Finals, with Curry awarded the Finals MVP and Wiggins serving as the team's second-leading scorer.[15][16]

In 2022, Wright began co-hosting his What's Wright? podcast with his son, Damonza Byrd.[17][18] While on The Colin Cowherd Podcast discussing Draymond Green, Wright disclosed that he is a Klutch client.[19]

Poker career

[edit]

Wright made his first poker-related appearance on PokerGO's video podcast No Gamble, No Future, in March 2021.[20] Wright would make his second appearance in June 2021 where it was announced that he would be playing in PokerGO's High Stakes Duel III against Phil Hellmuth on July 28, 2021.[21] It was also revealed that Wright would appear in the upcoming Season 13 of PokerGO's Poker After Dark, alongside poker professionals Hellmuth, Maria Ho, and Daniel Negreanu, as well as mixed martial arts announcer Bruce Buffer.[22] Wright also entered in events at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP).[23]

Public image and reception

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Wright's sports commentary has received both praise and criticism from media outlets. Complex's Aaron Mansfield wrote, "First Things First is actually [an] enjoyable, reasonable sports talk, and Wright is a big reason for that," and opined that "[Wright] knows how to build a convincing argument behind statistics."[7] Mansfield added: "The Syracuse grad has differentiated himself in sports media because of his persuasive nature, his defend-LeBron-to-the-death mentality, and his willingness to confront prevalent social issues such as race in America."[7]

Wright's willingness to discuss social and political issues within a broader sports-related context has also been noted and praised by media outlets.[4][7][24] Wright's opinions on the U.S. national anthem protests sparked by Colin Kaepernick's activism was positively received by German Lopez of Vox, who wrote "Nick Wright has given what is perhaps the best distillation of the topic I have seen on television."[24]

Wright's positive analysis of LeBron James' basketball play has also been noted by media outlets.[9] Mansfield commented, "Granted, yes, sometimes [Wright's] LeBron takes are a stretch."[7] Kyle Koster of The Big Lead wrote, "Part of [Wright's] shtick is not pretending he checks fandom at the door (see: his LeBron James love affair). That's what helps him connect with viewers who, by and large, are sports fans themselves, grappling with the same biases."[25]

Personal life

[edit]

Wright is of partial Polish-Jewish descent through one of his grandfathers. He also has Irish and Italian ancestry and was raised Roman Catholic.[26] He and his wife have one child and his wife has two other children from other relationships.[27]

References

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  1. ^ Wright, Nick [@getnickwright] (September 6, 2016). "@nicholas_moen born and raised in KC. Worked in Houston live in LA now. Always been a Royals fan" (Tweet). Retrieved December 29, 2020 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b c Levin, Matt (September 17, 2007). "Q & A with SU grad and 'Millionaire' contestant Nick Wright". The Daily Orange. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  3. ^ Bolt, Chris (February 26, 2014). "Former WAER Broadcasters Address Race, Gay Rights, Business Issues in Sports". WAER. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Nick Wright". Fox Sports PressPass. Fox Sports. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  5. ^ "Nick Wright Determined to Make His Mark on Fox Sports 1". sportsradiopd.com (Interview). Interviewed by Jason Barrett. Barrett Sports Media. May 10, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  6. ^ Palosaari, Ben (May 4, 2012). "Nick Wright tweets that he's leaving 610 Sports". The Pitch. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e Mansfield, Aaron (March 4, 2018). "25 Rising Stars ESPN Needs to Hire". Complex. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Barron, David (March 28, 2016). "Radio host Nick Wright leaving Houston for job with Fox Sports". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d Kleps, Kevin (June 9, 2017). "FS1's Nick Wright says LeBron debate with Skip Bayless is 'genuine'". Crain's Cleveland Business. Crain Communications. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c McCarthy, Michael (December 22, 2016). "Cris Carter, Nick Wright can stake claim to FS1 morning show with successful tryout". Sporting News. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  11. ^ Withiam, Hannah (September 5, 2017). "This is Fox Sports' big answer to ESPN's new 'SportsCenter'". New York Post. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  12. ^ Draper, Kevin (August 30, 2017). "Something New Amid the Turbulence at FS1". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  13. ^ Koster, Kyle (August 30, 2018). "Here's Nick Wright's Sleep Schedule". The Big Lead. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  14. ^ Nesbitt, Andy (June 5, 2019). "FS1's Nick Wright gets slammed by NBA writers over false story on 2015 Finals MVP votes, apologizes". Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Grathoff, Pete (June 17, 2022). "Fox Sports' Nick Wright's terrible take on Andrew Wiggins recalled after Warriors' win". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  16. ^ Martin, Angelina (June 17, 2022). "Wiggs' priceless Steph answer on giving him no shot at Finals MVP". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  17. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (March 2, 2022). "New Fox Audio Network Inks Advertising, Distribution Deal With Spotify's Megaphone". Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  18. ^ Grathoff, Pete (April 6, 2022). "Fox Sports' Nick Wright: I'm out as Chiefs fan if they move to Kansas — with a proviso". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  19. ^ Nick Wright responds to Draymond + Kyrie-LeBron on Lakers? + Celtics letdown | Colin Cowherd Podcast. The Colin Cowherd Podcast. The Volume. June 20, 2022. Event occurs at 23:18–23:33. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ Duckworth, Tim (March 30, 2021). "No Gamble, No Future Episode 11 on Today at 5 p.m. ET with Nick Wright". PokerGO Tour. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  21. ^ Barnes, Jim (June 29, 2021). "Phil Hellmuth to face amateur on next 'High Stakes Duel'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  22. ^ Duckworth, Tim (June 29, 2021). "Nick Wright Set to Face Phil Hellmuth in High Stakes Duel III for $100K". PokerGO Tour. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  23. ^ Sofen, Jon (June 25, 2024). "Bracelet-Chasing Sports Talker Nick Wright Chooses the Patrick Mahomes of Poker". PokerNews. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  24. ^ a b Lopez, German (September 28, 2017). "This video is the best 5 minutes you will see on the NFL protests. Seriously, watch it". Vox. Vox Media. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  25. ^ Koster, Kyle (March 27, 2018). "Embrace Debate: Are These Shows Worthless?". The Big Lead. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  26. ^ Nick reacts to Kyrie Irving's promotion of antisemitic film. What's Wright? with Nick Wright. October 31, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022 – via YouTube. I said this on Twitter and I'll say it again here. I am just an Italian, Irish white guy who was raised Roman Catholic. However, my dear beloved grandfather, who passed before you were born, was a Polish Jew.
  27. ^ Foley, Matt (November 3, 2019). "This Brash Talker Is Out to Conquer Sports Media". OZY. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
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