The Worst NBA Player in the WNBA, City Boys and a Guy Named Masai Ujiri

Embark on an intriguing and often hilarious journey with Ike Amaechi and the High and Low crew – Ugo the Sheik, Steven Leslie, and Sean Khan – in the latest installment of the High and Low NBA Show. As the Raptors' fan trust debate takes center stage following the departures of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, the panel dissects the leadership prowess of Raptors President Masai Ujiri and Raptors GM Bobby Webster, unraveling the intricacies of fandom loyalty and the potential directions the Raptors might take.

The discussion transitions to the intriguing world of NBA expansion, with the panel contemplating cities beyond the conventional choices, Las Vegas and Seattle. Ugo, Steven, and Sean bring some unique perspectives to the table, exploring untapped markets and envisioning the league's future footprint.

And what would a High and Low NBA Show be without its signature burning questions? Ike, Ugo, Steven, and Sean dive into a captivating inquiry that promises to stir up the basketball realm – contemplating the success trajectory of the worst NBA player in the if they were to play in the WNBA.

Buckle up for an episode brimming with insights, spirited banter, and the signature blend of basketball wisdom and eccentricity that defines the High and Low NBA Show. You won't want to miss this one.

Also, check out High and Low merch on http://www.vonnabrahamm.com/store. Open up the High and Low YouTube channel for bonus content. Talk to us in High and Low's Facebook group and Discord.

Music featured on the episode is brought to you by Lyve of the Enjoy Music Group and Sonny Rocwell of The Goodness. Edited by Vonn August. Executive Producer is Ikenna Agu. Follow High and Low on Instagram and TikTok/Twitter @morehighandlow.

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Transcript

Ike Amaechi: 0:00

With the best of the best. We going to be here so the rest could take a rest. Sean Carter, AKA. Jay-Z. Once said that and I'm saying this, welcome to He Low. Good day and good night. Welcome to the He Low Basketball Show. This is episode number 100 and Deshaun Woo Deshaun, AKA episode number 192. Once upon a time, former NBA guard Deshaun Stevenson wore the number 92. That was later in his career, earlier in his NBA tenure. He wore the number 2 as a key member of the Washington Wizards. Yes, those same Wizards that, uh, featured Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crintonton. And, uh, at the time, the mid to late 2000s, uh, Deshaun Stevenson was considered a bitter rival. Of LeBron James at the time, the Cavs and the Wizards were frequent postseason opponents. They had three straight years, in fact, where they faced off in the postseason. In the 2008 playoffs, Stevenson fouled LeBron so hard and with no remorse whatsoever. And it was called a flagrant foul. And LeBron fans were up in arms, including his, his good friend or LeBron's good friend, Jay Z. Who recorded a song, aimed directly at Deshaun Stevenson, titled Blow the Whistle. Jay drops a line that says, uh, Which is

Sean Khan: 1:41

funny,

Ike Amaechi: 1:43

because somehow Jay Z thinks he's not too big to make a song. Nevermind responding. Anyway, that happened. Um, the so called rivalry eventually died down. Uh, LeBron went on to dominate the league left for South Beach, but he was all done with the Sean Stevenson, but now two former rivals reunited. In the 2010 NBA finals where LeBron's Heat and Deshaun Stevenson's Mavs faced off, and we all know how that turned out. Got his championship ring, meaning Deshaun Stevenson got his. I wonder if Jay-Z made a song about Stevenson's Ring. Who knows? Actually, no, he. Facts. Anyway, welcome to the show. My name is Ike Amechi. I'm here with the guest, Steven Leslie, Hugo the Sheik, and Sean Khan, aka Sean Controversy. Around here, we live by principle governed by the high and low lives of the world, which means we talk about basketball, especially and specifically the NBA. And we talk about it at any time, anywhere, North, South, East, West, high and low. This week, we're sprinting around the NBA. So many topics to cover some with a little more volume than others. Uh, we'll get into some MBA expansion talk with the impending introductions of teams in Vegas and Seattle. It's going to happen. We know what's going to happen. It feels like a no brainer at this point. Uh, we're going to talk about the others though, the other cities, not Vegas and Seattle. Uh, we also have a spirited listener question or comment about the Raptors. It's not a Raptors podcast, um, specifically Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster and their incompetence. Let's just say that. Uh, and we're going to wrap up with some burning rapid fire questions about many different things happening in the NBA, including some controversial scenarios that might set off. Cancel culture warriors, perhaps, I don't know. We'll see. Stay tuned for that before we lock in. Let me check in. Oh, hi, thanks for checking in. I'm still a piece of garbage. Welcome back to the table. Gentlemen of the week. Not going to lie. I'm going to cut this one short because there's three of you and we have quite a bit to get to and we don't have three hours. I'll just ask everyone feeling good. That's good. Good week.

Ugo the Sheik: 4:07

Damn cold, man. Damn cold. My body's

Ike Amaechi: 4:09

sore. I'm good. Okay. All right. Great. You go, Sean, Stephen. I appreciate the time this week. Thank you for joining me and listeners, listeners of the show. High and low lives of the world. Thank you for joining us. I hope you're having a great week and we're here for another week, another episode, because if there's more NBA, of course, there's more high and low things are certainly happening in the NBA, which is why you have questions and we have answers. So let's talk about it. Let's talk about something important. This is Question. That's part of the reason why I had to go with Deshaun Stevenson as, as the intro here, because it felt so poetic because we have a listener question. We have a question from Deshaun in Richmond, Virginia, and his comment and question is this knowing that some of you are Raptors fans, maybe you can answer this question. How are Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster able

Sean Khan: 5:10

to keep their jobs when they've fumbled so many potential trades and actual transactions? The Spurs

Ike Amaechi: 5:16

deserve more credit for the Kawhi trade than Toronto, and then

Sean Khan: 5:19

they lost Kawhi anyway. Fred Von Vliet walked for nothing when they could have traded him for players or picks a year before. They waited too long to trade Oji Anunobi and Pascal C. Ockham. They received assets, but much less than what they could have got months earlier. Masai Ujiri has been playing this game of NBA GM chickens since Denver,

Ike Amaechi: 5:39

and now

Sean Khan: 5:39

Toronto. Wow. How does he and Webster get a pass for being the

Ike Amaechi: 5:43

architects of a bad

Sean Khan: 5:44

team? Woohoo!

Ike Amaechi: 5:47

Tell him again! Tell them again, Deshawn. Go ahead. Who wants to take this one

Steven Leslie: 5:54

first? Since I'm not a rappers fan, um, With all due respect, Deshawn, I know a man from Virginia isn't speaking on the rappers situation. Because do you even have a team?

Ike Amaechi: 6:05

Yeah, they're getting the wizards. But do they have a team right now? No. They're getting the wizards.

Steven Leslie: 6:09

And there are 10 NBA teams that don't have a ring. So The Raptors, Masai and Bobby, I think they can do whatever they want because they're cemented with a championship

Ike Amaechi: 6:20

ring. Do whatever they want. Okay. Okay.

Steven Leslie: 6:25

When you're the first to do it, it's, it's a

Ike Amaechi: 6:28

wrap. I think he kind of speaks to that when he says that the Spurs deserve more credit for that than Toronto.

Ugo the Sheik: 6:36

Hmm. Hmm. Well, Spurs had no choice.

Ike Amaechi: 6:39

I've

Steven Leslie: 6:39

been talking about pop. I don't what what did the Spurs? They haven't won anything since Duncan. So you get credit for what? For another team winning a championship? Yeah. Why can't you win a championship with that same player? When you got Wemby now, you just have to wait to get rid of another team. Capitalized.

Ike Amaechi: 6:56

I'm playing devil's advocate here. OK, so I think a lot of people have credited Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster. For the Kauai trade, putting together that Raptors team that won the championship. But I think this point he's trying to make is that Kauai was the centerpiece of that team. And he was punted to Toronto at a spite when he could have gone to, I mean, there were rumors that he was going to the Clippers or to the Lakers and they purposely, the Spurs purposely said, no, we're not sending you there. We're going to send you to Siberia. Then did not expect like that, that blew up in their face. They did not expect Kawhi to come up to Toronto and win a chip. Right. But all that to say. Is that was more of the Spurs choice than Masai going out to get that, to get that transaction. You know what I mean? They just happened to be the recipients of something else that was bubbling somewhere else. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. That's a

Steven Leslie: 7:57

fact, but after the fact quite hasn't had a ring after. So you have to make a choice. You have to credit the management and the ownership of the Raptors to. He had the rest of the pieces together that they had and they needed that one extra ump then they got it Like if anyone ever went to Messiah and said anything like face to face He would just show them the ring and it's you have

Ike Amaechi: 8:18

to shut up unless you have more rings The shot and in Richmond, Virginia, they don't have rings or franchisees. Oh, yeah Yeah,

Ugo the Sheik: 8:30

this is difficult because They're definitely not following NBA law or rules with these trades and these transactions What I will say is you know for I think more than a decade that the slogan in Maasai we trust Has been tested over and over and over again And he seems to be the last guy laughing saying I told you so but this time Ooh, like it's, it's really, really hard to think that, okay, Scotty Barnes is going to be that dude, um, that's going to lead this team. Scotty Barnes is going to be a perennial all star is going to be, you know, top dude in the league as Darko likes to speak on him. Um, so I, I don't see it now. Maybe they see something that we don't see. Um, the other thing about the Raptors is we make really good NBA players for other teams. It's just, it's a fact. Don't say

Ike Amaechi: 9:29

that. That means that they're a farm team, man.

Ugo the Sheik: 9:33

Well, pretty much. Like, for whatever reason You know, we have these dope players and we can't like make a deep playoff run with them, but they go to other teams and fans, uh, M MBA punits and, and analysts or whatever you want to call them are saying, Hey, you guys got a really awesome piece. Yeah. Now you could win a potential championship with that PR this like, it's like, really, but when they were all in Toronto, it never worked. Right. OG Aninobi is. You know, analytically, one of the best NBA defenders that in the league, top two, Pascal Siakam and Kawhi were second, uh, second most points by a duo in an NBA finals, like, like, but somehow it doesn't work. Like, I don't, I don't get it. Are we in bizarro world or something? So. You know, let's see what happens with the Scotty Barnes era. I, I give them two years. If they can't right this ship in two years and start getting, uh, 50 win seasons and, and, uh, more than just play ins, uh, then, you know, basically the ACC is going to be burned down to its, to its, uh, foundation.

Sean Khan: 10:43

Hmm. Yeah. I mean, I wish Mish was here to, so I could sick him on the Sean guy, but Did you just say to me, I did a lot of thinking about this one and it kind of annoyed me. Seems like the listener is somewhat uninformed. What did you say? Um, let's, let's just look at the whole big picture here. Keep in mind that Toronto is probably the least desirable destination for NBA players. Not true. They're bottom three. I don't know. Like

Ike Amaechi: 11:16

Jason Tatum just the other day said that Toronto is top two city. In, in the NBA, bro, we got baddies.

Sean Khan: 11:24

Well, free agent signings would say otherwise, um, they could

Ike Amaechi: 11:28

literally put or bad management. That too. Go ahead. Go ahead, Sean. Go

Sean Khan: 11:34

ahead, Sean. I don't know. I feel like a lot worse. Managers have signed a lot better players. Um, you know, they've, they've, they've put literally the best team on the court. They have quote unquote, the best fans. Um, they won a title and they still couldn't resign their star player in the history of basketball. Have you ever seen a star player not resigned with the defending championship team with a clear shot to repeat? Um, I think people don't understand the handicap that the Raptors organization deals with. I don't think there was anything Masai or Bobby could have done to prevent Kawhi from leaving. Um, I think one of the first moves Masai made when he got here was fleecing the Knicks. He traded like a really trash bring on you for a first and two second rounders. The same listener criticized them for letting Fred walk. But then also criticize them for trading Pascal and OG before they walk. So I'm not really sure what he wants here. Like quickly and Barrett are decent pieces and three first rounders and Bruce Brown is a pretty decent haul for Pascal. Like what were there better deals on the table in the last year? Like apparently, but where, where, where they offered more than three first rounders for any one of those guys. I don't, I don't think they were. I think that's. The best I could have done. Um, there was no basement

Ike Amaechi: 12:54

dwelling. Terrible draft year though. Terrible draft year. I

Sean Khan: 12:59

mean, they got three draft years out of Indiana, right?

Ike Amaechi: 13:03

And two of them are going to be in a terrible draft year.

Sean Khan: 13:06

Well, keep in mind, you call it a terrible draft year. Maybe you would have said the same thing when Pascal and OG were drafted at 23 and 27. Or when Fred wasn't even drafted. Um, you know, you know, you know what the Raptors excel at? And what they have excelled at under Masai's tenure is player

Ike Amaechi: 13:22

development. Oh, Grady Dick.

Sean Khan: 13:25

No, well, that's a draft. I'm talking about development. Who knows, maybe they'd develop him too. Look where, hell, look where Larry was before he came to Toronto. DeRozan maximized every ounce of his potential when he was in Toronto. Both of those guys started in all star games. And, you know, the list of player development goes on and on. Um, under Masai's tenure, the, the Raptors have been a consistent playoff team. Um, they were a top three development franchise and he brought a title to Toronto. So really, what more do you want from

Ike Amaechi: 13:57

them? I honestly agree with, with, uh, with all your points. But dang, the Raptors have a great culture. Player development is solid. It's one of the best in the entire league. You know, just

Steven Leslie: 14:08

develop, develop, develop, and then trade those first rounders and something else for someone who wants to leave another team and, and just repeat and do that thing again.

Ike Amaechi: 14:16

Rinse and repeat, man. That's it.

Ugo the Sheik: 14:19

Yeah, that's what I thought they were gonna do, but they just didn't do it.

Steven Leslie: 14:21

Breakup is always ugly whenever you, uh, have to break up a championship core. I know, personally, because my team's done it 18 times, so.

Ike Amaechi: 14:34

Uh, well, you know, Hey, the Raptors have one chip, there's some teams that have never won a title ever. Like Washington

Sean Khan: 14:43

or

Ike Amaechi: 14:44

Virginia, whatever you want to call them. The Bullets have won a title. Um, no one's won a championship in Virginia, in the state of Virginia, but Hey, we're not taking shots at Deshaun. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You guys have said some crazy things on this podcast. So I'm sure listeners have torn their hair out. Just listening to some of the things that we've said on this podcast. So not me. So, uh, we'll just, we'll just chalk it up to, Hey, your opinion is your opinion. Spicy one, man. I like it. It's not a top five ranking of high and low contributors, but Hey, it's, it's right up there with, uh, with the spiciness, the Sean. Thank you for your question. I appreciate that. Maybe we'll ask Mitch for his opinion.

Ugo the Sheik: 15:24

Is that a, uh, spicy pea reference there that you're using? No,

Ike Amaechi: 15:28

no, no, but

Ugo the Sheik: 15:30

it's going to give you kudos, but that's

Ike Amaechi: 15:31

creative. I should've, I should've dropped that in there. Hey, kudos to you for thinking of spicy pee. Spicy. Spicy. Alright you guys, what's next? Speaking of the Raptors, uh, when they entered the league in 1996, uh, they didn't come alone. They had a Canadian sibling in the Vancouver Grizzlies. Um, I've shared some, uh, some stories about that debacle and, uh, the part that Steve Francis played in Vancouver's demise as an NBA city. Uh, so I won't go into the details as to how and why they lost the team to Memphis. Um, I've also talked about how and why the city of Seattle lost the Supersonics in, in 08. Again, I won't get into that, but. I will get into the concept of full circle because now that the NBA is looking to expand for the first time in 20 years when the league reintroduced Charlotte to the fold, cities like Vancouver and Seattle have now been reintroduced, put in the forefront of these talks along with Las Vegas and Mexico city for NBA expansion and Las Vegas and Seattle have been the front runners And all are but guaranteed to be the NBA's next expansion franchises, leaving cities like Vancouver and Mexico City in that spectator position. I mean, basically there's so much money in both Seattle and Las Vegas and the NBA loves money. Uh, it's a hard pill to swallow if you're in Vancouver, but hey, just as academy award winners or nominees are honored just to be nominated Vancouver can see some positives in the fact that they were even considered after all that happened back in 2001 And it's been 20 years The longest period of time the league has gone without expanding So i'm sure there will be another round of expansion talks in the coming years So Vancouver and Mexico city will be in the mix at that point. I'm pretty sure. So aside from the four cities I've just mentioned, why don't you guys make the case for expansion to a non NBA city of your choice? Who else should the league consider and why?

Sean Khan: 17:40

You know, I'm going to make the case for, uh, Belgrade, Serbia. I want like, Serbia? I want to show these soft NBA players. What it's like to play in front of those crazy fans? I feel like a guy like Russell Westbrook will be broken so quickly over under what two quarters I tell his sensitive ass quits basketball forever. Um, I feel like if if European expansion is on the radar for the NBA, Belgrade should be Near the top of that list, not many cities worldwide are as basketball crazy and have as much a history of basketball history as Belgrade. Um, we don't need another tired, recycled American city. Vancouver has had his chance. Montreal won't work. Uh, I'm not mad at Mexico City, but if I had to choose any city in the world without considering time difference and travel,

Ike Amaechi: 18:39

I would go with Belgrade. Wasn't the NBA thinking London, if they were going to go to Europe? I feel like that's a natural transition, I don't know.

Ugo the Sheik: 18:48

Isn't Russ from like Compton or South Central or something like that? Like why would, why would, why would that scare him? Man wears a dress like why would you guys over

Sean Khan: 18:58

there cries about fans talking trash to him almost every game in like American

Ike Amaechi: 19:04

cities Rest is gonna come after it's a wild statement, bro

Steven Leslie: 19:13

John's the first one to talk about player safety this and

Ike Amaechi: 19:17

that

Steven Leslie: 19:21

The city, the city I got is, uh, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. So, you know, they bought Live Golf. Saudi has a F1 Grand Prix, Riyadh has Cristiano Ronaldo, they'll have Lebron, Brani and Bryce in 2028 playing on the Saudi Mecca stars.

Ike Amaechi: 19:41

Amazing.

Steven Leslie: 19:41

That money, money goes long, that oil money.

Ugo the Sheik: 19:46

These guys are all corrupt. Wow. Okay. Um, I actually did think about this one. Uh, so my first option would be Pittsburgh. I think that would be a very nice town, uh, to have an NBA team in, uh, they have a baseball team. They have a really good legendary NFL team. And I think it would only make sense for them to, oh, sorry, and a hockey team. Sorry. Um, but I think it only makes sense for them to get an NBA team and then they'll. cover all the four major sports. Um, I did also think internationally like my other two colleagues here. Uh, I was thinking Spain. Um, I think that would be a great place to have a team. I think, okay, Madrid. Barcelona. Barcelona, Madrid, wherever. Um, I think, Logistically it would work well with the flights and whatnot. It might be a little bit more expensive, but I think in Spain and having fans, uh, they're, they're big basketball fans in Europe, relatively easy for them to get there, I think. I think you'd sell out, uh, easily. And then the other option, uh, because, uh, this city also has quite a bit of money, um, and a, there'd be a huge following and a huge marketing opportunity is Japan. Um, it's terrible for the, uh, for time travel, sorry, for travel and time and whatnot, but man, they you can't go wrong, uh, advertising the NBA in Japan. Like they would just eat that all up left, right, and center. So those are the three that I thought of

Ike Amaechi: 21:16

again, a country. So maybe Tokyo, Tokyo, sure. Whatever you want. My name

Ugo the Sheik: 21:21

countries,

Steven Leslie: 21:22

man.

Ugo the Sheik: 21:23

I say, listen, man, it's kind of just a geography

Steven Leslie: 21:25

lesson. Yeah.

Ugo the Sheik: 21:26

Stop. Some of these countries are as big as a city. So who cares, man? Does

Steven Leslie: 21:29

it? No, it's not. Who cares? He said, you're not having team Canada join the NBA.

Ugo the Sheik: 21:36

You know, that's how the Americans think too, right?

Ike Amaechi: 21:41

Um, okay. Okay. Interesting. We were talking about Deshaun, you know, living in Richmond, Virginia, and you know, you guys were casting aspersions and, you know, he ain't getting a team. Virginia doesn't have a team. Uh, but Hampton Roads was at some point, they were considered for a, a team because, uh, we all remember the Virginia Squires. They were an ABA team back in the seventies. They were based in Norfolk, Virginia. So Virginia does have a basketball history, professional basketball history. Hampton Roads, interesting. Squires

Ugo the Sheik: 22:19

sound like the tropics. What kind of name is Squires?

Ike Amaechi: 22:23

Yeah, they put in a proposal of the Hampton Roads potential ownership group put in the proposal back in like 2017 for an NBA team Just a quick reminder to high and low lifes If you want to leave a question for us to answer on the show send your dm To us on Tik TOK at more high and low or on Instagram and get high and low links in the show notes as usual So we're gonna take that break when we come back We're taking rapid transit around the league with a speed round of questions and opinions. Some of these might land us in trouble Some of these guys, I don't know, it depends on how they answer the questions. You know, these people, these cancel culture warriors, man, they're all over the place. It's waiting for you to trip up, to fumble and stumble. Anyway, find out when we come back. This is a high and low basketball show.

Sean Khan: 23:15

This moment is brought

Ike Amaechi: 23:16

to you by high and low listeners. Lambeau and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shared his top 5 non NBA cities, based on his own opinion. Starting with number

Sean Khan: 23:25

5, Lambeau chose front runner and NBA front office favorite, Las Vegas. Number 4 is Montreal, beautiful city in the summer, but unbearable in the winter. Number 3 is San Diego, former home of the Clippers. Lambeau's number 2 pick is the Starbucks capital of the world,

Ike Amaechi: 23:41

Seattle. Brrrr! Drum roll! The top non NBA city is Green Bay, obviously.

Sean Khan: 23:47

Cheeseheads are good enough for the NFL, so they're more than good enough for the NBA. Great list, Lambo. Thanks for

Ike Amaechi: 23:53

sharing your top five this week. Now let's dive back into the high and low

Sean Khan: 23:57

NBA show.

Ike Amaechi: 24:07

And we are back. I'm Ike Amechi and they are Hugo LeChic. Sean Con, Sean Controversy and the guest, Steven Leslie. I have 12 burning questions, gentlemen. We have 12 minutes. Maybe. Let's get into it. Uh, first question is for the guest. Talked about our top five favorite players of all time last week. So this is a good one for you to answer since you didn't have a chance to chime in last week. Who are your three favorite players in the NBA? Not necessarily the three best, but just your three favorite. Right now,

Steven Leslie: 24:43

um, Anthony Edwards is one. I saw him dissing Kawhi the other day, um, snatching bodies. Tyrese Halliburton, number two. He's a walk in double double and he's embarrassed by Walkie Bucks on three occasions and has Giannis as his game ball. And number three, Sean, is Westbrook. Cause even from the bench. He's costing the guy that got Draymond Green suspended. That's the energy we need.

Sean Khan: 25:09

Two out of three ain't bad.

Ike Amaechi: 25:11

Crazy. What does that mean? Two out of three ain't bad? Like what?

Sean Khan: 25:18

I agree with two of your picks.

Ike Amaechi: 25:21

It's not about you agreeing. Well Sean, speaking of bench players, who is the best bench player in the league?

Sean Khan: 25:28

So, Pat Bev is plus 70 off the bench. Uh, which is way better than to, I mean, probably eight or 10 of, of like the top 15 favorites. Uh, Tim Hardaway is plus 20. Austin Reeves is minus 128. He deserves to be in that discussion.

Ike Amaechi: 25:47

Austin Reeves. Pat Bev. Sorry, Pat Bev? Pat Bev deserves to be in that. I missed that part. Sorry, you said Patrick Beverly? Patrick

Sean Khan: 25:56

Beverly is a plus 70 or 80 off the benches here. He deserves to be in that conversation and he's not. And it's a, it's a crime. People are in love with points and there's other aspects of the game that people need to consider as well.

Ike Amaechi: 26:10

What, like, like he's usually on the court when the game is already done? That's

Sean Khan: 26:14

not true. That's definitely not true.

Ike Amaechi: 26:18

Hugo, who has the best signature shoe in the NBA?

Ugo the Sheik: 26:22

Well, that's a really good question. Uh, I wasn't, I had to do a bit of research on this and I, I had to settle on the, the, the Booker Ones, man. Those, those Booker shoes, they're, they're some nice, pretty, pretty, pretty shoes. And they're really pretty in orange. So, uh, I got to go with the, uh, the book one. They're pretty.

Ike Amaechi: 26:42

Booker has, he has great style. Great style. Mm hmm. So, I'm not surprised to see that his shoe is at the top of your list. The guest, Stephen Leslie, who is the one NBA player everyone needs to just give up on?

Steven Leslie: 26:58

All right, so collectively we've given up on 8. 7 assists a game, uh, and a broken hand. Might be the worst stick of glue I've ever seen. We need to get Chris Paul's ass out of here.

Ike Amaechi: 27:11

Hmm. Can't disagree. Can't disagree. Uh, Sean, speaking of Golden State, Chris Paul's teammate, should Steph Curry leave Golden State and chase another ring?

Sean Khan: 27:24

Hell yeah, why not? This, this idea of loyalty to teams is stupid. Like, teams aren't loyal to players. So I think, I think it'd be entertaining as hell to watch staff team up with another all star or two in a different city. I'm all for

Ike Amaechi: 27:41

it. LeBron. Nice. Relax. Okay. You go. So buy, sell, and liquidate. Who are you going to do it for? Between the Lakers, the Clippers, and the Warriors. The teams of California.

Ugo the Sheik: 27:58

Listen, if you have an opportunity to buy, The Lakers, like you got to do it, like it's just on so many levels, you just have to do it. You know, even God will be knocking on your door to get like courtside tickets like you got to do it like that just that puts you in a different, it's just in a different plane of existence like when we're talking the multiverse like that's a gateway to a different universe altogether. Sell Golden State Warriors. It's, I mean, they're in there, I mean, they've been paying a lot of luxury tax, so they're probably trying to get some of that loot back, but you know, the franchise is extremely valuable right now. I don't know what's going to happen when Curry, Clay, Dre, all them guys leave, it'll probably drop in value. So this is probably peak dollars that you're going to get for it. And the Clippers, I'm a, I'm a liquidate. All those guys are older, older stars. Um, the franchise is still, you know, somewhat valuable. Um, it's all in the same arena as the Lakers, so I don't have to, like, build the infrastructure twice. Um, liquidate it and run it like, uh, Donald Sterling, but just with a little bit more empathy, and, uh, hire a coach that's like a Ted Lasso, and let people, uh, enjoy the story. There you go. Okay. Mm hmm. Stone Cold. Ooh.

Ike Amaechi: 29:21

Okay. So I promise we're getting close to the spicy ones. Getting close. Uh, Hey, let's take a quick break before we get ourselves canceled or get yourselves canceled. We'll be right back with more high and low. All right, you guys, what's next? And we are back at six more burning questions. Let's get into a gentleman, the guest, Steven Leslie, this one's for you, Indiana Pacers or Toronto Raptors.

Steven Leslie: 29:57

Hmm. Listen, this is the second best Pacers team since Paul George, Hibbert, and Stevenson. They tricked us. So it's Pacer Nation.

Ike Amaechi: 30:06

All right, Sean. Hey, all star voting is Well underway as we all see, uh, NBA All Star game is set for February 18th, 2024. So it's a lot of All Star talk coming. Uh, so name one player who will likely be snubbed from the Eastern All Stars.

Sean Khan: 30:28

I couldn't, I couldn't narrow it down to one player, but I'll narrow it down to one team. And that is the Orlando Magic. I feel like Paolo Bencaro and Franz Wagner, both. They both deserve a look, uh, but I think they're going to split the vote because they both play like a forward, uh, and neither of them will get it.

Ike Amaechi: 30:48

And while you're at it, what about the West? Who's going to get snubbed in the West? The

Sean Khan: 30:51

West was a lot more difficult. Um, there's a lot more players to choose from. I mean, like, as awesome as he is, like 80, he's probably on the bubble just because the Lakers are at 500. Um, Zion and Brendan Ingram might be on the bubble. Markadin, who's playing amazingly, won't even get considered. Um, but I think if we're talking about like a pure snub, it might be DevenBooker, just because his team doesn't have a great record. Uh, they're underachieving, and he's missed 10 games.

Ike Amaechi: 31:22

Hey, hey, Hugo, what's your favorite part of the NBA All Star weekend? It

Ugo the Sheik: 31:27

used to be the flip flops between dunk contest and three point contest. Three point contest has been a little bit more consistently exciting. Uh, dunk contest has been a, a yo yo. But, mind you, when the dunk contest sucks, it is fun to watch Barkley and the rest of them rip on everybody who does some whack moves out there. So, uh, those are the two that I look at. Everything else is just a waste of my time.

Ike Amaechi: 31:51

All right. Well, time for some fun question for the guest, Steven Leslie. Could the worst player, let's just say, for example, Grady Dick, could the worst player in the NBA beat the best player? In the WNBA, in the 1v1, that's to say, Brianna Stewart or Asia Wilson.

Steven Leslie: 32:17

Well, this question is ridiculous. Three points per game, 30 percent shooting. I think he'd get downed by both Stewart.

Ugo the Sheik: 32:29

Oh, goodness gracious , it's not a game to them. Goodness gracious., Ike Amaechi: what is this name? They,

Sean Khan: 32:36

they wouldn't even make a high school team.

Ike Amaechi: 32:39

What? Who,

Sean Khan: 32:41

those WNBA women would lose to like high school teams guarantee. But this is one

Steven Leslie: 32:45

v one. They've played high school already. They're, they're, they're

Sean Khan: 32:48

done college. They're not beating any MBA guy. They're like, we're we're talking about like. The 1, 200 best players in like there's 1, 200 men that are probably better than them in the world. That may be the case. It's not even close. It's not even close.

Steven Leslie: 32:59

That may be the case, but they're beating Grady Dick. I'm telling you this.

Ike Amaechi: 33:03

He's the only one.

Sean Khan: 33:04

He's the only

Ugo the Sheik: 33:04

one.

Sean Khan: 33:07

Anybody but that guy. There's a big physical difference between men and women. Um, even the size difference. Like Grady Dick is, he probably looks small on the NBA court, but he'd be the tallest player in the WNBA. It don't matter,

Steven Leslie: 33:20

he's whack. You don't, these, man.

Sean Khan: 33:24

He still has, he's still on the NBA roster. He played the NBA. Better be

Ugo the Sheik: 33:28

doing layups. Because if he takes a shot, he's done.

Steven Leslie: 33:30

No, he's on a roster, why? Because a certain team

Sean Khan: 33:33

picked him. No other team is picking him. There's, there's, there's players in the minor leagues and NCAA That are way better than the best player in the WNBA. So,

Steven Leslie: 33:46

I mean, let's be real about this here. That may be the case, but they are digging this point down, bro. Look at this guy. Look at him. You look at him and you're like, bro, this is food. I'm eating this guy up.

Ike Amaechi: 33:57

Oh, gosh.

Steven Leslie: 33:58

You ever seen Love and Basketball? That's happening, bro. They're like, mm mm, don't. And you know what? They've crossed him too. That's what makes it sad.

Ike Amaechi: 34:10

You already have

Ugo the Sheik: 34:10

a vision. You already have a vision in your head. You know how this is exactly going to go down. Just

Ike Amaechi: 34:14

bang bang, step

Steven Leslie: 34:15

back. Seven.

Sean Khan: 34:19

I don't want to like talk too much about other sports, but like, it was John McEnroe called Serena Williams the 700th best tennis player in the world. And it's true. It's very true.

Ugo the Sheik: 34:30

Stop throwing shade at Serena. She didn't do nothing to you.

Sean Khan: 34:33

That's not shade. It's not shade to say someone's a 700 best at something in the world. I'm not 700

Ike Amaechi: 34:38

best at anything in the world. She gon beat you up. All right. Well, you go, let's see what you think here. If the best player in the WNBA were to play in one NBA game versus let's say the Detroit Pistons, what would a stat line look like?

Ugo the Sheik: 34:58

Hmm. 10 points, two rebounds, three assists. Yeah.

Ike Amaechi: 35:05

Yeah. So Asia Wilson can walk onto an NBA court, score 10 points. Yeah. Two rebounds. I mean, she'll probably get

Ugo the Sheik: 35:11

half of it at the free throw line. I'd give her a three and an easy bucket on a cut, on a backdoor cut. You know what I mean? Wow. Possible. Okay. It's a team sport. She gets a pick. Somebody sets her free. Boom. I trust her to make some buckets.

Ike Amaechi: 35:27

She could. She could. They could hit some middies. Yeah. Especially if they call some plays for her. Yeah.

Ugo the Sheik: 35:35

I'll give her 10. I'll give her 10.

Sean Khan: 35:38

What about like a one on one situation, like ISO situation? Is she, is she scoring? I just answered that. I know. I want, I want to hear someone else answer it because your answer was wrong.

Ike Amaechi: 35:51

Listen,

Ugo the Sheik: 35:51

if she's got space to shoot, I mean, I mean, that's the beautiful thing about basketball. Like if you got space to shoot, shoot, right? So if she, she can shoot and she can get herself a free one on one, that's one thing. I mean, it's not like she's going against like Manute Bull or something like that out there. You know what I mean? So Sean,

Steven Leslie: 36:10

I've seen guys like you do this before. It was a show called pros versus Joe's and the girls whooped the man 90 percent of the time in any sport. I

Sean Khan: 36:20

seen the same show. I did not see the same thing. That's that's ridiculous.

Ike Amaechi: 36:26

Well, I mean, Grady Dick is 6'6 205. Brianna Stewart is 6'4 170 pounds. But she's a two time MVP. And

Sean Khan: 36:40

he would toy with her.

Ike Amaechi: 36:42

No! So if Grady was in the WNBA, you think he'd be the best player in the league? His

Sean Khan: 36:48

name would be Grady Vagina, first of all.

Ike Amaechi: 36:49

Wow.

Ugo the Sheik: 36:53

Wow. The minute you asked that question, I was like, here it comes. Wow. Here it comes. Never mind.

Ike Amaechi: 37:02

Nevermind. And on that note,

Ugo the Sheik: 37:06

we're done. That

Ike Amaechi: 37:10

brings us to the end of this episode of the high and low basketball show. Uh, hope you enjoyed this one. Some interesting spicy spicy answers, uh, hey man, we're on the road to episode 200 I'm gonna get there i'm gonna get there very soon, man Uh, thank you. Hugo. Thank you. Sean. Thank you. Stephen. Uh, remember to subscribe to high and low Anywhere you find podcasts make us part of your weekly routine We're on Instagram. We're on TikTok. We're on X. We're on, uh, YouTube. Links to those are all in the show notes. So where can listeners find you,

Sean Khan: 37:47

Sean? I'm gonna go into hiding because I don't want Russ or anyone in the WNBA to find me.

Ike Amaechi: 37:53

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Alright. Good call. Uh, and Steven, where can they find you? I'm on

Steven Leslie: 38:01

Instagram at Esteban underscore Roy, E S T E B A N underscore R O Y.

Ike Amaechi: 38:07

Nice. And you go. You go to Sheik. Where can they find you?

Ugo the Sheik: 38:11

Man, I'm gonna scrub my identity, man, so I'm not associated with the foolishness that came out of people's mouths tonight, man. Grady. Grady. I can't even repeat it. Grady, what?

Ike Amaechi: 38:22

Yeah, don't repeat it. I thought

Ugo the Sheik: 38:25

I said some crazy stuff, but man,

Ike Amaechi: 38:27

this guy, once again, music is by live D enjoy music group. You can find live on X and on Instagram at L Y V E additional music is by sunny rock. One of the goodness sound design is by Vaughn August. This is a Vaughn Abraham podcast. Just in case you didn't know. So on behalf of the guest, Steven, Leslie, on behalf of. Sean Controversy, you go the chic. I'm Ike Amechi. Thank you for listening to High and Low, and we'll talk to you next week.