Tag Archives: Kawhi Leonard

Whenever I’m playing an older game, I can’t help messing around with some minimalist roster modding! As you may have seen, I recently took the 70+ players in NBA 2K14 PS4 that are still active, and placed them on their current teams. Noticing that four teams could field a full starting five, I decided to play a couple of makeshift 2024 showdowns using a game that still holds up superbly after ten years.

In my latest game of NBA 2K14 PS4 with minimalist 2024 season rosters, I took control of the Los Angeles Clippers with Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George, and faced James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers. With everything that’s gone down, it remains to be seen whether Harden will ever suit up for the 76ers again, but he certainly came to play in this virtual hardwood matchup! The game went down to the wire thanks to some big plays…but also a couple of major blunders on my part. Enjoy the highlights!

I previously played a game between the 2024 Bucks and Warriors, which I posted in a recent YouTube roundup bulletin. My tinkering with the rosters has also allowed me to play some historical matchups with makeshift classic teams, so stay tuned for new entries in my NBA 2K14 Retro Series! In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content, and feel free to hit Dee and I up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play.

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at the MyCAREER story in NBA 2K20, titled “When The Lights Are Brightest”.

Following NBA 2K18’s ridiculous MyCAREER tale starring a prospect who quit basketball to be a DJ, finally makes it to the NBA following a streetball tournament, and is flanked by his annoying best friend/roommate B-Fresh, NBA 2K19 featured a much better written story. “The Way Back” not only boasted impressive production values from a cinematic standpoint, but also attempted to spice up the journey with mini-games and other interactive elements. It wasn’t perfect, but it stood out as one of the better MyCAREER stories, and a tough act to follow.

To that end, Visual Concepts collaborated with Maverick Carter and LeBron James on the story for NBA 2K20’s MyCAREER, “When The Lights Are Brightest”. Indeed, Carter, LeBron, and their production company, Springhill Entertainment, are credited on the cover as executive producers for MyCAREER. The story has been shelved for good following the shutdown of the NBA 2K20 servers, since MyCAREER is no longer playable. With that being said, what was the story, was it any good, and are we missing out since we’re now unable to revisit it? Let’s take a look back…way back…

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We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with a few thoughts on how it’s difficult to implement the realism of unexpected moments in basketball games, without them coming across as contrived.

It’s been quite an eventful twenty-four hours. With its final episode airing next week, Game of Thrones fans (of which I’m one) have experienced a major development that isn’t entirely unexpected, but unquestionably impactful (to say nothing of divisive). At the same time, two Game 7s concluded the second round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs. The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Denver Nuggets in a close contest, while the series between the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers was even more dramatic, ending on Kawhi Leonard’s incredible gamewinning shot.

While I’d normally advocate for letting the dust settle before we proclaim anyone or anything to be among the greatest ever, Leonard’s jumper that seemingly touched every part of the rim before dropping in has to be considered an instant classic. No matter what happens with the Raptors this year, that amazing shot that had everyone holding their breath has secured its place among the great gamewinning buckets in NBA Playoffs history. It’s the kind of excitement that we want to see in the real NBA and on the virtual hardwood alike, but it’s difficult to achieve the latter in a way that feels satisfactory. In video games, the reality of the unexpected often feels unrealistic.

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Not one, not two, but three new NBA 2K19 First Look screenshots were released today. Reigning Slam Dunk Champion Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz was revealed as the next member of Team 2K, while Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan – who have just been traded for each other – are also previewed wearing their new uniforms.

As with the previous screenshots, the initial Overall Ratings for the three players have also been revealed. Kawhi Leonard is rated 94 Overall, DeMar DeRozan 89 Overall, and Donovan Mitchell 87 Overall. For comparison, they were rated 95 Overall, 89 Overall, and 84 Overall respectively in the final official rosters for NBA 2K18.

Check out the screenshots below, as well as here in our NBA 2K19 gallery. What are your thoughts on the latest screenshots and Overall Ratings? Have your say in the comments section below, and join in the discussion here in the NLSC Forum.

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