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 habits that I can’t break when I play MyCAREER.

Without a doubt, I’m a creature of habit. If I’m comfortable and there’s no need to switch things up, I’m not going to change for change’s sake. I have my go-to orders at my favourite fast food restaurants, as well as my preferred dishes if I’m eating at a more upscale establishment. I enjoy having a routine, and while I am open to new interests and experiences, I also know what I like, and what I can reliably stick with. This carries over into my gaming, basketball or otherwise. I’ve established preferences and habits that work for me in the games that I regularly play.

Needless to say, once I developed a taste for MyCAREER, I soon developed habits that are now extremely difficult to break. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as those habits have allowed me to enjoy MyCAREER in a number of games; as well they should, seeing as how they’re formed by my preferences and the experiences I want out of the virtual hardwood! However, some of those habits come from how I play other genres of video games. Being a creature of habit can also have its drawbacks, eschewing change and variety in favour of the familiar. With that being said, here are five MyCAREER habits that I can’t – or at least, very seldom – manage to break.

1. Creating a Point Guard

I’ve traditionally created “myself” when I play MyCAREER. That is to say, I create a player that resembles me (as much as the face creation or scanning will allow), give him my name, and make him my height. As I’m 6’3″, that’s a viable size for an NBA player. It’s not tall enough to play centre as I did in the junior leagues all those years ago however, so I have to be a guard. In my first couple of forays into NBA 2K’s career modes, I created a shooting guard. However, during my rookie season in NBA 2K13 with the Denver Nuggets, Ty Lawson was injured for the year, and I ended up assuming point guard duties. I found that I really, really enjoyed being a playmaker!

To that end, outside of a couple of experimental builds that I’ve spent far less time with, I’ve always created point guards in MyCAREER. It became the role that I assumed with NLSC THRILLHO in 2K Pro-Am as well, but even when I wasn’t playing online, I preferred to run the point and rack up assists (more on that in a moment). It’s probably made the experience more repetitive than it should be, as it was refreshing when I created a big man as a second build in NBA 2K20. I just have too much fun playing as a point guard though, so it’s one of those MyCAREER habits that I can’t break. I may create a second build, but my first one will always be a one.

2. Racking Up Assists

As a point guard, I have a distinct preference for the pass-first style, particularly in the online team play modes. In the offline modes, I will start scoring more as I begin to raise my offensive ratings, but assists are the stat that I most enjoy accumulating. I take far more pride in reaching double digits in assists by the half, than being well on the way to a 50-point night. Also, if I do happen to tally single digits in the assists column – even if I finish with eight or nine – I’m disappointed in my performance. I like being the one to set up my friends in online games as I’ll feel guilty about missing shots, and I enjoy the challenge of aiming for assist records in NBA MyCAREER.

After all, it’s not always as easy as passing the ball and getting out of the way! Your AI teammates can fumble passes, take bad shots or get blocked, mess around too long for an assist to register, pass up shots, or just unfortunately miss. When you can set new records for assists in a single game, as well as break the season records for total and average, you know you’ve done a masterful job orchestrating the offense. Or at least, you’ve found ways to effectively pad your stats! I’ll admit that I’ve definitely done the latter as a playmaker, and the satisfaction it brings makes it another one of the habits that I can’t break every time that I get hooked on a MyCAREER game.

3. Averaging a Triple-Double

During my second season in NBA 2K19’s MyCAREER, I set myself the goal of averaging a triple-double. I succeeded, and since then, I’ve averaged a triple-double in multiple seasons. In fact, as of my sixth year in NBA 2K14’s MyCAREER, I’ve been able to maintain a triple-double average on my career, hitting that mark four seasons in a row. That’s a lot of messing around and getting a triple-double, or very close to one, game-in and game-out. It probably sounds like I’m bragging here, but I promise that I’m not. I guarantee you that many, many MyCAREER players have averaged a triple-double over entire seasons. I’m not uniquely skilled or accomplished here.

The fact of the matter is that while it is still a challenge to chase triple-doubles like that, it does become easier once you develop the knack for filling the box score. As a point guard, it involves frequently feeding your teammates for easy buckets, roaming to get as many rebounds as possible, and ensuring that you at least hit five two-point field goals every single game. These techniques are habit-forming, which means once chasing triple-doubles becomes part of your play style, you really have to go out of your way to consciously pull back and not do the things you need to do to pad your stats. My NBA 2K14 stats demonstrate just how much of an ingrained habit it is!

4. Playing for the Chicago Bulls (When I Have The Choice)

I have mixed feelings about having control over my destiny when I begin a new MyCAREER game. On one hand, there’s fun in the unpredictability of entering the Draft and not necessarily ending up on your favourite team, or an otherwise preferable destination. That’s how it goes for many Draftees throughout the years, and it sets up interesting and challenging scenarios that you might not normally choose. I’d say that describes my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER with the Philadelphia 76ers, and it’s been a blast! I appreciate the authenticity of not always knowing exactly where you’ll end up, especially when it’s tied to raising your Draft stock through pre-NBA gameplay.

On the other hand, there’s so much that’s out of our control with MyCAREER, so I also appreciate being able to choose where I land. I’m not very creative or original with my choice, though! While Kenny has played for a variety of teams throughout many years of MyCAREER, my heart (or at least, my habits) keep steering me back to my favourite team: the Chicago Bulls. This isn’t a terrible thing. I have no qualms about leading the Bulls to glory on the virtual hardwood, and it fulfils the fantasies of the inner child that fell in love with basketball all those years ago. It’s an unoriginal choice though, so I also see the value in replicating the unpredictability of the Draft.

5. Role-Playing as a Respectful Character

This is one of my gaming habits that I have trouble breaking in general, not just in MyCAREER. For example, even when I opt for a villainous playthrough in a Fallout game, I usually still choose many of the same polite dialogue options that I’d pick in a heroic playthrough. I’ll freely admit that it’s weird to care about being nice to fictional characters, and not have some fun taking advantage of the ability to be a sarcastic jerk without any real world repercussions. Mind you, in Fallout at least, I’d argue that my civility actually allows me to role-play as a gentleman villain, or arguably an even bigger monster as my veneer of politeness masks some despicable acts and intentions!

In MyCAREER, I prefer to role-play as the kind of player and teammate that I admire and would want to be: humble in interviews, complimentary and respectful towards teammates and coaches, and not looking to start feuds and drama. That means always selecting the positive and diplomatic responses, and not being a demanding diva. Of course, some dialogue options don’t match the tone of the full answer, resulting in a few press conferences where my avatar has gone off in a way that I wasn’t intending! Apart from that, I do prefer to role-play as a respectful and respectable player in my MyCAREER games; aside from secretly hoping some teammates get traded, anyway.

MyCAREER gamers, what are some of the habits that you have trouble breaking? Are you a creature of habit when it comes to builds, play style, and preferred team? Let me know 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.