ESPN senior writer Brian Windhorst went viral online after Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night after he skewered Luka Dončić poor defensive performance and relentless bickering with the officials. The rant garnered strong reactions from Dallas Mavericks fans and detractors, but perhaps none more high-profile than First Things First host Nick Wright.
Wright revealed Thursday that he texted Windhorst in defense of Dončić after he saw Windhorst’s rant.
Wright let Windhorst know that his comments were unfair and set Dončić up to be blasted by the media.
“I thought the table was set for feast on Luka day today in a way that was not fair to his performance or him fouling out,” Wright said on First Things First before comparing Dončić Game 3 to Steph Curry’s implosion down the stretch of the 2016 NBA Finals. “It’s not one-to-one, but it is not unprecedented what we saw … this whole ‘let’s re-evaluate Luka Dončić’ today, I think it’s too much.”
Nick Wright says he texted Brian Windhorst after Windy’s viral postgame rant about Luka on ESPN:
“The table was set for feast on Luka day today in a way that was not fair to his performance or him fouling out.” pic.twitter.com/oixldtT0Lx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 13, 2024
Windhorst dramatically compared the poise and maturity of the Boston Celtics, who are on the precipice of an NBA championship, to that of Dončić in a monologue on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt postgame after Dallas narrowly lost Game 3. Dončić fouled out of the game and was exploited on defense throughout.
Later in the segment, Wright’s cohost, Kevin Wildes, pointed out that Windhorst’s comments were based on reporting from around the Mavs and the rest of the NBA.
“He’s not just popping off, but he was taking a wealth of reporting,” Wildes noted.
It’s unsurprising that Wright would come to Dončić’s defense. Since Dončić was drafted, Wright has been one of the young Slovenian forward’s most vocal proponents in national sports media.
What’s surprising is that Wright would personally contact a fellow NBA commentator to chide him for criticizing Dončić.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.