It looks like Nick Wright is going to be waiting a little bit longer for his highly anticipated debut on The Bill Simmons Podcast.
During the latest edition of his What’s Wright? With Nick Wright podcast, the Fs1 star discussed the latest developments regarding LeBron James’ groin injury. And in doing so, Wright took aim at Bill Simmons — and to a lesser degree, Charles Barkley — for the inconsistencies in their coverage of the 4-time MVP.
“This is just kind of a tale as old as time with LeBron, which is folks will find a way to be wrong,” Wright said. “Folks so badly want to find ways to take shots or poke at this guy that they will find ways to be wrong on both sides of the equation.
“So two very, very prominent voices in basketball media, right after the LeBron injury, said, ‘Oh, I mean, he’s probably done for the rest of the regular season’ in Barkley and Simmons. Voth of them. Simmons was like, ‘no, he’s probably done with the rest of the regular season. You know, probably not gonna be eligible for All-NBA.’ Barkley said that he’s not gonna play again this year until the playoffs, all of it.”
“Maybe the guy who’s played more minutes of NBA basketball than any human alive tweaked a soft tissue injury… I think that probably makes more sense”@getnickwright on why it’s ridiculous to think LeBron is “faking” his groin injury pic.twitter.com/DIU3Z2xvhL
— What’s Wright? with Nick Wright (@WhatsWrightShow) March 19, 2025
Nick Wright proceeded to point out that despite Bill Simmons initially claiming that James’ injury would effectively derail the rest of his season, the Sports Guy has since pivoted to downplaying the severity of the injury. In fact, he even went as far as to imply the injury was being used as a cover so that the 40-year-old could take an extended rest ahead of the playoffs.
“A week later, they’re throwing out there — and Barkley hasn’t done this, but Bill did — ‘are we sure he actually got hurt? Or did LeBron in that Celtics game…’ which is now being framed as, ‘oh, he knew they were gonna lose, that game was over. Even though it’s a four-point game with five minutes left. Knew the schedule, knew Bryce [James] might be playing for a state championship, needs some time, you know, a little PTO and just, you know, is faking essentially the injury.”
Bill Simmons Thursday:
“I don’t know how the Lakers are gonna hold on if LeBron misses 3-4 weeks”
Bill today with Russillo (below):
“How hurt do you actually think LeBron is? I think he’s fine”
Bill providing unbiased, non-overeactionary higher level NBA takes once again 🤣 pic.twitter.com/9ivPEWihPw
— The r/BillSimmons Podcast (@rBillSimmonsPod) March 17, 2025
While James’ behavior at his younger son’s state championship victory over the weekend did raise some eyebrows with regard to his injury, Wright doesn’t believe there’s anything nefarious at play here. Rather, the First Things First co-host is of the opinion that the best explanation is the most obvious one: that a 40-year-old in the midst of his 22nd NBA season is probably prone to suffering some soft tissue injuries along the way.
Ultimately, only James truly knows how much his recent hiatus has been the result of injury and how much has been rest-related. Either way, Bill Simmons’ flip-flop on the matter was enough for Nick Wright to reignite a feud that allegedly ended before it started last August.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.