In the latest episode of the Versus spinoff of the “Hot Ones” series, former Blue Devils Carlos Boozer and Jay Williams sit down to answer some hard-hitting questions or face the heat. The Blue Zone is here to break down the video:
The cult-favorite show “Hot Ones” presented by First We Feast has long hosted celebrities and asked them burning questions both about their career and personal life. This past week, the Versus spinoff of the series, where usual host Sean Evans is replaced by the two guests asking each other questions, dipped into the Duke basketball tradition by inviting Blue Devil legends Carlos Boozer and Jay Williams to the show.
The format of the video involved each former player asking the other questions with the option to answer truthfully or consume a hot wing, with the inquiries getting progressively deeper and the wings hotter.
After a question about fellow NBA players’ kids and their pro prospects, as Boozer’s two sons Cameron and Cayden are two of the top high school players in the country, Williams was treated to the first Duke-related question of the segment. Boozer asked the former star point guard which of the following Duke players deserved the hate they got during college: Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and JJ Redick.
His answer? “It’s JJ, not even a question,” before going into a story where the pair argued about their scoring records while in Durham.
Williams was also tested on his knowledge of sports outside hoops, as the self-proclaimed “chess wiz” was asked to identify a move given a board and a 24-second shot clock. Although the former first-round pick confidently relayed an answer, it was incorrect, prompting laughter from the pair and Williams to eat his first wing.
Round four brought about a challenge to see if the chemistry between the two national champions was still present, as the pair took on a friendship test. The first question from Boozer was about an alternate career if he did not play basketball, which turned out to be a lawyer after an incorrect guess from Williams.
The final round offered the opportunity for the pair to up the ante by adding an extra dab of hot sauce to their last wing, right before Williams delivered a spectacular impression of ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith discussing the Jordan-LeBron debate.
Boozer’s question was much more loaded, as Williams requested he name three positive things about the basketball program down the road in Chapel Hill, which the two-time NBA all-star reluctantly gave, praising their great tradition, the character of head coach Hubert Davis and the uptempo system they employ.
After the five rounds saw two wings downed by both, the show came down to a tiebreaker round that would force the loser to eat the hottest wing the show could conjure up. Like true competitors, the duo was pumped for the decider: a game of rock-paper-scissors.
Williams took the first game of the best-of-three series, but Boozer responded with the next two to emerge victorious, forcing his point guard to scarf down the final wing while he claimed the trophy as the victor of the Versus while also promoting his new book “Every Shot Counts” for basketball and Duke fans alike to check out.
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