Nick Wright recently made his reservations known about the Inside the NBA crew. Wright argued that Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson don’t look like they enjoy watching the NBA anymore, often leaning into negative reactions to shape narratives. Since then, Wright has faced notable pushback from the media, including former wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh.
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Wright was especially disappointed after watching the Lakers-Nuggets game last Saturday, March 15. For the NFL analyst, who hosts First Things First and What’s Wright?, it was one of the best games of the season, with full participation and an overtime finish. Austin Reaves made a breathtaking play to keep the Lakers alive, and Luka Doncic sealed it with a buzzer-beater.
However, Wright felt that even a game like that drew a negative reaction from the NBA crew, with O’Neal saying, “good teams don’t need [buzzer-beaters].” Meanwhile, Barkley was already negative before tip-off, which Wright felt was more about reacting to media narratives than focusing on the game itself.
“Before the Lakers Nuggets game, Chuck saying ‘I hope the Lakers lose’ because he was angry, talk shows would take the Lakers seriously. If they’re the 3 seed in the west, are people allowed to take them a little serious? Then after the game they win and Austin making that unbelievable play and Luka game winner, and Shaq said ‘good teams don’t need that,’ like what are we doing?” Wright asked on his show.
And that’s where Houshmandzadeh comes in. During an appearance on the Speakeasy podcast, the former wideout pushed back on Wright’s take, arguing that NFL analysis is far worse in that regard. “Nobody that does this football-wise… they’re not honest,” Houshmandzadeh said.
Houshmandzadeh argued that NFL analysts are often the ones reacting to media narratives and never speaking their minds in front of the camera. According to him, that’s not the case with NBA analysts, especially the Inside the NBA crew.
“They don’t have people up there that are honest and speak their mind [in the NFL crew]. Chuck speaks his mind, Shaq speaks his mind, and Kenny is like the level-headed one, so he lets them say what they say. He may agree with them, the majority of the time, he just don’t get in that,” the analyst said, adding,
“The football part of it, these dudes don’t speak their mind, they say what you want to hear. And Shaq obviously ain’t doing that. Charles, you know, he ain’t doing that… The people that do it [are] at the football level. When the commercial breaks, that’s when they speak their mind.”
“The [football analysts] are not honest… They don’t speak their mind until it’s a commercial break”
– @housh84 compares the authenticity of network football analysts to the Inside The NBA crew with Charles Barkley, Shaq, Kenny, & EJ
WE’RE LIVE HERE ➡️ https://t.co/f4H3dQB55c pic.twitter.com/6ZwWrYfFIk
— Speakeasy (@speakeasytlkshw) March 19, 2026
Houshmandzadeh’s co-host, Emmanuel Acho, also didn’t agree with Nick Wright. The former linebacker, in fact, went on to say that many NFL analysts aren’t even watching games before commenting on specific players, a point several fans seem to agree with.
“The reason Inside the NBA is such a great show is because of their personalities. We’re not trying to sit there and watch them glaze players they did not watch like so many of the NFL shows,” Acho said.
That said, many fans also sided with Wright, arguing that the Inside the NBA crew has become less colorful, personality-driven, and engaging over the years. Some have even called for a full overhaul, suggesting that only a full roster change could bring back more authentic commentary instead of leaning on nostalgia and taking shots at younger players for no apparent reason.
