Overview of What's Wright with Nick Wright Mailbag
This mailbag episode centers on Nick Wright’s “GOAT of GOATs” framework and how he evaluates all-time greatness across sports, with extended debate over Lionel Messi, Michael Phelps, Jon Jones, Tom Brady, LeBron James, and others. Nick also explores a bigger philosophical question: whether legendary athletes have an “obligation” to keep playing in order to push the limits of human performance, and closes with a playful discussion about whether LeBron James could ever run for president.
GOAT of GOATs: How Nick Defines It
Nick revisits his criteria for comparing the greatest athletes across sports:
- The athlete must be the undisputed GOAT in their own sport
- Their sport matters in relation to global participation
- The debate is influenced by how “universal” the skill is across humanity
Why Messi Stays Near the Top
Nick strongly rejects the argument that Messi’s greatness is diminished because he “doesn’t play defense.”
- In soccer, positional roles matter differently than in basketball
- Messi’s job is to be the offensive engine, not a two-way defender
- Nick compares criticizing Messi for not defending to criticizing a goalkeeper for not scoring
Why Michael Phelps Was Left Out
Nick says he intentionally excluded Michael Phelps from the GOAT-of-GOATs discussion, despite recognizing his greatness.
His reasoning:
- Swimming is not as globally universal as running or soccer
- He believes swimmers get extra credit because they can collect many medals across different events
- He thinks track-and-field athletes like Usain Bolt deserve special consideration because running is the most universal athletic action on Earth
Jon Jones and Combat Sports
A listener suggests Jon Jones as a GOAT-of-GOATs candidate, and Nick says he may have underestimated him.
- He acknowledges a knowledge gap in MMA history
- He notes that combat sports benefit from being ancient and widely accessible
- Still, he’s unsure whether Jones is truly the undisputed GOAT in the same way Brady or Messi might be in their sports
Who Is Most Likely to Be Passed First?
Nick answers a listener question about which all-time great is most likely to be surpassed in his lifetime.
Nick’s Ranking of Likelihood
- Tom Brady being surpassed in football
- LeBron James being surpassed in basketball
- Messi being surpassed in soccer
- Ohtani is difficult to compare because his two-way greatness is so unusual
- Hockey is harder for Nick to judge because he admits he doesn’t know the sport well enough
His overall view:
- Football and basketball evolve so quickly that Brady and LeBron are the most vulnerable to being overtaken
- Messi still feels especially far ahead of the field
- Ohtani’s case is unique because no one else is really trying to do what he does
The Brady “Obligation to Humanity” Debate
A listener expands on Nick’s earlier Brady take: because Brady was so far beyond normal standards, maybe he had a responsibility to keep playing and explore the outer limits of quarterback longevity.
Nick uses the question to discuss a broader tension:
The Core Conflict
For elite people, there are always two competing obligations:
- Duty to self: maximize your talent, pursue greatness, push the limits
- Duty to family: protect your time, relationships, and life outside achievement
Nick argues:
- It’s not as simple as “choose family and retire”
- High achievers are wired to chase the next goal
- They often know, in hindsight, they may regret sacrificing family time, but it’s hard to stop in the moment
Why Brady Was Different
Nick says Brady’s situation was unusual because:
- He had already achieved everything
- Yet he could still keep expanding the boundaries of what was possible
That made Brady feel less like just another athlete and more like someone uniquely positioned to show humanity what’s possible.
How This Applies to Other Greats
Nick extends the thought experiment to:
- LeBron: could he keep going toward 50,000 points?
- Messi: why not keep chasing another World Cup?
- Tiger Woods: fans still want to see one more impossible moment
- Serena Williams: came back after retirement
- Phelps: could he have kept going?
His conclusion:
- There’s no simple right answer
- Greatness sometimes creates a weird “greater good” feeling, but family and life still matter
Doubt, Skepticism, and Changing Your Mind
A listener from Zimbabwe asks whether it’s wrong to be a doubter.
Nick’s answer:
- No, doubt is often the most reasonable stance
- It’s fair to say “I’ll believe it when I see it”
- But if you were loud and definitive in your skepticism, people are justified in reminding you later when you were wrong
Nick’s Examples
- Nikola Jokic: Nick was very skeptical early, and admits he deserves some ribbing for it
- Jalen Brunson: his skepticism was more mainstream at the time, so he feels less guilty about that take
- He emphasizes that the best analysts update their opinions as new evidence appears
His broader point:
- Being wrong isn’t the issue
- Pretending you were never wrong, or never changing, is the real problem
Could LeBron Run for President?
A listener pitches a wild but entertaining idea: if LeBron won championships in multiple states, could he run for president on a populist platform?
Nick’s reaction:
- He loves the “galaxy brain” energy of the idea
- He doesn’t think a celebrity could realistically win 400 electoral votes
- But he does think the U.S. is becoming more open to celebrity politics
Nick’s Take on Celebrity Candidates
He suggests that:
- Sports or entertainment celebrities could be viable in the right political moment
- Names like LeBron, Steph Curry, Mark Cuban, Brad Pitt, or Matthew McConaughey could be serious if they chose to run
- On the Republican side, he jokingly floats Dana White as the only sports-adjacent celebrity he could imagine
The Bigger Political Point
Nick mentions that he once considered using his sports platform as a launchpad into political commentary or office, but that path has been tabled.
He ends with a playful promise:
- If sports media personalities ever start appearing on actual debate stages, he’ll consider joining them
Main Takeaways
- Nick’s GOAT-of-GOATs framework depends on both dominance and global relevance
- He is highly skeptical of arguments that misunderstand positional roles, especially in soccer
- He sees Brady, LeBron, and Messi as the central modern all-time greatness debates
- He believes elite athletes face a real tension between personal/family duty and pushing human limits
- Being a doubter is not inherently wrong, but consistency and honesty matter
- The LeBron-for-president idea is mostly a joke, but Nick acknowledges that celebrity politics is increasingly plausible
Bottom Line
This episode is a thoughtful, funny, and philosophical mailbag about greatness, legacy, longevity, and how much pressure the greatest athletes should feel to keep going. Nick uses listener questions to dig into not just sports arguments, but bigger questions about responsibility, family, ambition, and public life.