Compliments from Dan Le Batard sound a little strange. That certainly was the case on Wednesday as he complimented Nick Wright for what he thought was a fair and smart take on why NBA players do not value the All-Star Game or the regular season.
Le Batard said he was astonished and delighted by “the greasy ascent into gasbaggery stardom of Nick Wright”. He said that nothing about Wright is manicured for television and that makes him unique in the sports media.
“I am saying he’s a guy on television that you would find at the horse track proudly,” Le Batard said of Wright. “Proudly at the horse track. He is not trying to clean up to be whatever your version of television is. He doesn’t mind crazy hair. He is going to do it on force of personality. It is actually artistic to watch.”
Nick Wright has never shied away from discussing issues others may want to dance around. It is a level of authenticity that Le Batard says he appreciates.
“He is proudly a gambler and proudly a crazy person and proudly doing some of the better work in this field in the evolution of gasbags as a young man.”
He ended his commentary on Wright by noting that the person least surprised by the FS1 host’s success is probably Wright himself.
“He is a grinder and he makes good stuff and he makes good points. His substance is very strong and he knows how to make people mad and agitate. His hustle has been fascinating to watch from Kansas City when he was promising us as a young man and a radio gasbag that he would get here.”
