*”First Things First” host Nick Wright stirred up debate with a bold and contentious pitch during a conversation on Bill Simmons’ “The Ringer” podcast. Wright floated the idea of splitting the NBA All-Star Game roster by race.
“We just have to say, ‘You know what? PC headlines be damned. White guys vs. Black guys,'” Wright said, per THR. “I’m telling you right now — guys would play fucking hard. There would be a real edge to the game.”
He referenced Kon Knueppel’s development as a sign that the talent gap may be narrowing and added that players from Eastern Europe, including Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic, would round out the white squad.
The only NBA All-Star Game fix that @getnickwright thinks would actually work at this point ? pic.twitter.com/Z0snvhdMvi
— The Ringer (@ringer) February 11, 2026
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“There hasn’t been a moment in the NBA in the last 50 years where if that ended up just by chance being the game, you could see either team winning,” Wright said.
Simmons recognized its potential to dominate the news cycle. “It certainly would get a lot of talking points going that week,” he acknowledged.
The league has shuffled through one All-Star format after another in hopes of making the showcase matter again. A three-team round-robin with U.S. and international rosters is this year’s experiment. Last season featured four themed squads, and fewer than 5 million viewers tuned in across Turner’s networks.
Wright acknowledged he does not have a realistic alternative on hand. “In the meantime, I don’t know what the hell you do,” he said.
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