Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five real players whose careers produced stories that are similar to a MyPLAYER.

Although interest has shifted towards its connected experiences, MyCAREER is a mode that has allowed us to step into the shoes of an NBA player. Mind you, while MyCAREER has tried to replicate the NBA experience from earning minutes and endorsement deals to becoming a star and mulling your options in free agency, it takes a flexible approach to realism. Most of us end up posting some truly ridiculous numbers on route to being enshrined in the virtual Hall of Fame, and the adoption of a story-driven approach has led to some weird, overly-dramatic, and unlikely tales.

With that being said, as the old saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction. As it turns out, there have been some players whose careers bear striking similarities to our MyCAREER journeys. No, no one has ever quit basketball to become a DJ and then made it to the league following a streetball tournament – though Rony Seikaly did become a DJ after retiring – but there are players whose road to the NBA and rookie seasons can be compared to a MyPLAYER. That’s not to say that their stories are exactly the same, but there are some fun parallels between real players and our NBA 2K avatars. Indeed, some stories may not be as unrealistic as they originally seemed!

1. Billy Ray Bates’ Rookie Season Resembles NBA 2K15’s MyPLAYER

Let’s tip things off with the example that inspired this topic! I was made aware of this player’s story via the NBA Cobwebs account on Twitter/X, which is a must-follow if you enjoy classic highlights and NBA history. Billy Ray Bates’ career was before my time, and his brief tenure in the league has allowed his story to fly under the radar. Drafted 47th overall by the Rockets in 1978, the team cut him after his agent tried to demand guaranteed money for the third round pick. Bates ended up in the CBA, where he was Rookie of the Year and shattered four backboards. This led to him being signed to a 10-day contract by the Portland Trail Blazers in February 1980.

Now, while the NBA 2K15 MyPLAYER went undrafted, his NBA journey also began by latching on with a 10-day contract. The fact that one of the most unique starting points in MyCAREER has a historical comparison is already fun, but it gets better: Bates’ numbers also resemble a MyPLAYER! In 16 regular season games as a rookie, he averaged 11.3 ppg in just 14.7 mpg, shooting 49% from the field and 42% from three. In his Playoff debut, he scored 26 points. His 26.7 career ppg in the Playoffs is the most by a bench player, and his 28.3 average in 1981 remains a Blazers record. In short, his brief, unlikely career is very reminiscent of our MyPLAYER performances!

2. Andre Ingram Could’ve (Loosely) Inspired NBA 2K19’s Story

I say “could’ve”, because while it may seem like an intentional reference on paper, in reality, NBA 2K19’s MyCAREER story had to have been written and at least in pre-production when Andre Ingram made his debut. It was a long road to the NBA for Ingram, who became one of the oldest rookies in league history when the Lakers signed him for the final two games of the 2018 season. A veteran of the G League, Ingram’s 19 points were the most for a Lakers rookie since Nick Van Exel in the 1994 season, making him a feel-good story in a tough year for the team. As it turned out, NBA 2K19’s MyPLAYER had a tale that bore a resemblance to Ingram’s journey.

In “The Way Back“, AI goes undrafted, and heads to China. After a short stint there, he gets the opportunity to play for the G League’s South Bay Lakers, but ends up with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. He then overcomes a backstabbing teammate to join the NBA’s Lakers for their 2018 season finale. While Ingram’s career certainly wasn’t as melodramatic, and it also actually began in the D-League with a much longer tenure with the Lakers’ affiliate, there are parallels between his NBA debut and AI’s story. Sure, the timing of his debut and pre-production on NBA 2K19 suggest that it’s purely coincidental rather than an intentional nod, but the similarities are still fun to notice.

3. Lynn Greer is a Successful Junior, Like NBA 2K21’s MyPLAYER

While I wasn’t the biggest fan of NBA 2K21, I do consider “The Long Shadow” to be one of the best MyCAREER stories, with its MyPLAYER – Junior – being one of my favourite protagonists. The story of Junior is that he’s a top high school player whose father also played basketball and was a local legend, though he didn’t quite make it to the big time. It’s a well-told tale with some interesting supporting characters and an enjoyably infuriating antagonist, but we can also draw some comparisons to a real player. That player is Lynn Greer: a combo guard who played his lone NBA season for the Bucks in 2006-2007, and also makes a surprising appearance in NBA 2K11.

As noted above, he’s actually Lynn Greer Jr., and a second generation basketball standout. His father was taken 170th overall by Phoenix in the 1973 NBA Draft, and was also drafted by the ABA’s Carolina Cougars, but ultimately didn’t go pro. Despite going undrafted, Lynn Junior did enjoy a thirteen year pro career, becoming a star in Europe. However, he played a season in the D-League before his Bucks stint, much as Junior can opt to take the G League route to the NBA. Their stories differ in that Lynn Greer Senior is happily still with us as of writing whereas Junior’s father died before the story began, but both sons ended up with more successful careers than their dads.

4. Jackson Ellis vs. the NBA 2K14 MyPLAYER is Magic vs. Bird for the 2010s

Once again, these comparisons are not intended to suggest that the real players resemble a MyPLAYER exactly, right down to the last detail. I wouldn’t say that Jackson Ellis’ personality is similar to that of Magic Johnson or Larry Bird, though Bird certainly did enjoy his trash talk! Nevertheless, the rivalry between Ellis and the NBA 2K14 MyPLAYER is basically Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird for the 21st century. Like the storied rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics Legends, our avatar’s history with Jackson Ellis begins before we’re even reached the NBA. This includes an epic clash in the Rookie Showcase game, played in the lead up to being drafted.

That’s certainly a suitable stand-in for the 1979 NCAA title game, in which Magic and Bird went head-to-head! Indeed, had Visual Concepts been able to license schools for the NBA 2K14 MyCAREER story as they’ve done in later games, chances are that the Rookie Showcase would’ve been the college championship. Anyway, once the NBA 2K14 MyPLAYER is in the NBA, every showdown with Jackson Ellis is a key game on the schedule. As the years go by, they can become good friends off the court while still remaining competitive rivals on it. They even shoot a shoe commercial together, which in reality was the catalyst for the friendship forming between Magic and Bird.

5. Orange Juice Resembles a Few Duos (But Not The One You Think)

During timeouts in NBA 2K17’s MyCAREER, Coach Brubaker pumps up Pres and Justice Young by telling them “You’re my Jordan, and you’re my Pippen”. In fact, since he appears outside of MyCAREER as well, I’ve made it a mission to get him to say that to the actual MJ and Pip when playing with a retro Bulls squad! In any event, while the story of Orange Juice does see Pres and Justice Young inspired to become the next great duo while watching old Bulls highlights, there’s a notable difference between them and Chicago’s legendary tandem. While Pres and Justice enter the NBA at the same time, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were drafted three years apart.

To that end, while the story is about Orange Juice becoming an all-time great duo like MJ and Pip, their tale more closely resembles other duos who became teammates as rookies. In that regard, they’re more like Elton Brand and Ron Artest than Jordan and Pippen! You could also compare them to Mark Aguirre and Rolando Blackman, both drafted by Dallas in the first round in 1981. Other examples of promising rookie duos include Brad Daugherty and Mark Price in Cleveland, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland, and even Shawn Kemp and Dana Barros in Seattle. Mind you, while they all had chemistry, they didn’t have a Freshly Squeezed celebration. Haha!

What’s your take on these comparisons of real players to MyPLAYERs? Can you think of any other NBA players that had a journey that resembles the back story of a MyPLAYER? Have your say in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.