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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 going back to NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10 to try to replicate The Decision that saw LeBron James go to the Miami Heat.
16 years ago today, LeBron James announced that he had chosen to join the Miami Heat in an ESPN special titled The Decision. Needless to say, it’s one of the most significant events in NBA history. Sure, stars had switched teams before, changing the fortunes of clubs and the landscape of the league. Of course, as a generational talent joining forces with two other stars, LeBron’s move was particularly impactful. The Decision – both the choice in free agency and the special itself – are unavoidable talking points when discussing LeBron James and his legacy.
I’m not going into all of that today, though. Instead, I want to talk about how difficult it can be to replicate moves like The Decision in video games. We see a lot of crazy trades and signings in franchise and career modes, but ironically some of the wildest moves from real life would be considered unrealistic if they occurred in a game, and are incredibly tough or indeed impossible to pull off. With that in mind, is it possible to choose the Heat in NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10, and have LeBron James make The Decision to take his talents to South Beach? Let’s take a look back…way back…
Why The Decision Is Tough To Replicate
Generally speaking, well-designed franchise and career modes strive for a realistic approach to player movement. Mind you, it’s not easy to pin down what constitutes a realistic trade or signing in a fictional, virtual NBA. Lord Byron observed that truth is stranger than fiction, and Mark Twain later noted that fiction has to stick to what we believe is possible, while truth doesn’t. To that end, while we might see some weird moves in video games that don’t reflect real life, the concept of surprising trades and signings isn’t unrealistic. Furthermore, real trades are often rejected when we try to make them, and players re-sign instead of becoming free agents as they actually did.
Players re-signing instead of hitting the open market is the bane of every franchise gamer that has endeavoured to clear cap space to make a run at a big name come the offseason. There is a reason for it, of course. While we do see stars changing teams and plenty of roster turnover year-to-year, it would feel extremely unrealistic if every offseason saw major free agents joining new clubs, or several blockbuster trades. As such, achieving realistic player movement in franchise and career modes comes down to reflecting our perceptions and expectations; sticking to the possibilities, as Mark Twain put it. On top of that, we expect to face a challenge when building our rosters.
So, what does that mean for replicating The Decision and LeBron James signing with Miami in NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10? Obviously, you need to manage your roster and payroll, in order to have the appropriate cap space come the offseason. Because Virtual LeBron hasn’t had those conversations with Virtual Dwyane Wade and Virtual Chris Bosh, there’s no agreement to take less money in order to make their Big Three a reality. That means you’ll need to be able to sign him outright, instead of the sign-and-trade Cleveland agreed to. And of course, Virtual LeBron James needs to make the decision not to re-sign. In other words, it ultimately relies on some good luck!
To that point, after simulating through to the 2010 offseason in NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10, you may be fortunate enough to immediately have a chance at replicating The Decision. Conversely, you may be unlucky enough to run ten simulations in a row, and have LeBron re-sign with the Cavaliers – or refuse to sign with Miami – each and every time. Therefore, I decided that I’d make a maximum of five attempts in each game, stopping before then if I managed to sign LeBron. That’d give me a fair chance, while potentially demonstrating how difficult it is to get LeBron James to Miami and replicate The Decision in video games. Let’s begin with NBA Live 10!
The Decision In NBA Live 10’s Dynasty Mode
After loading up the final official roster update in NBA Live 10 – luckily, I had the foresight to keep a copy – I began a new Dynasty with the Miami Heat. Straight away, I was reminded that I’d need to ensure I had enough cap space to even be able to offer LeBron a contract, let alone bring in Bosh as well. Fortunately, all of the players who were set to become free agents in 2010 also have expiring contracts in NBA Live 10’s rosters. Crucially, both LeBron James and Chris Bosh are also among the upcoming free agents, so there’s actually a chance that The Decision can be replicated! With that appraisal of the situation, I was ready to simulate right through to the 2010 offseason.
In this virtual 2010 campaign, the Heat fell short of their actual 47-35 record, going 38-44. Of course, if not for a nine-game winning streak late in the season, the 2010 Heat likely would’ve finished under .500 as well. Meanwhile, Cleveland went 46-36; far worse than their actual record of 61-21, though that was still good for the second seed in the East in this simulation. They were eliminated by the Celtics – albeit in the Eastern Conference Finals rather than the second round – but it was the Phoenix Suns who stood triumphant, beating Boston in six games to win the championship. With the 2010 season in the books, it was now time for LeBron James to make a decision.
Before that however, I had to make the right moves. At the very least, I needed to re-sign Dwyane Wade, as he inked his new deal the day after LeBron announced his decision, and subsequently jointed the Heat via a sign-and-trade. I decided not to re-sign Udonis Haslem or Mario Chalmers at this stage of the offseason, so that I could maximise the cap room at my disposal. I also back-loaded Wade’s contract to free up more space in the short term, and thankfully, he was open to that offer. I was also able to trade the Heat’s first round pick to the Thunder, but when I tried to send Michael Beasley to Minnesota for Ryan Hollins, they made a counteroffer of Kevin Love!
This meant that I was stuck with Beasley’s contract. Still, I’d managed to save some money by not re-signing Haslem and Chalmers, and avoiding picking a player in the lottery. It was time to advance to the Sign Free Agents phase of the offseason. There was LeBron James, available to sign and interested in bringing his talents to South Beach! Except…I didn’t have any cap room to sign him. To my frustration, I realised that I’d neglected to release the players I didn’t intend to re-sign, and so the CPU had used up the cap space re-signing them for me. It’s been a while since I played NBA Live 10’s Dynasty mode, so I’d forgotten that you must manually release free agents.
Incidentally, LeBron ended up joining the Knicks, as predicted by Jalen Rose in 2008! Bosh, however, remained in Toronto. I reloaded the file, which had very handily auto-saved at the end of the 2010 Playoffs. This time, I made sure that I released Jermaine O’Neal, Quentin Richardson, and other players that I didn’t want to keep. I was out of luck though, as LeBron re-signed with Cleveland. Bosh was available though, and I managed to sign him on a back-loaded deal. Haslem was also still available to sign as the new season was getting underway, but rather understandably, he had no interest in rejoining the team that had so coldly discarded him in the pursuit of a big free agent.
Seeing that reloading from the end of the 2010 season would produce different results in free agency without simulating the entire season again, I decided to keep running it back from that point. I also decided to try re-signing Haslem and Chalmers, since the game requires teams to have at least eight uninjured players on their roster heading into the Draft. Haslem accepted a back-loaded deal, while Chalmers took a slightly smaller deal after I initially insulted him into not wanting to negotiate with the Heat anymore! I traded the first round pick to Oklahoma City, and sent Michael Beasley to the Pistons to free up more salary. Once again, only Chris Bosh was available to sign.
On my next attempt, I released Chalmers, while re-signing Wade, Haslem, Daequan Cook, Kenny Hasbrouck, and Yakhouba Diawara. Again, I flipped Beasley to the Pistons, allowing me to enter free agency with around $20 million in cap space. This time, neither LeBron nor Bosh were available, so unfortunately it was all for nothing. Nevertheless, that approach had freed up the most cap space by the Sign Free Agents phase, so I ran with it once more. On the next attempt, LeBron James opted not to re-sign with the Cavaliers, so finally I made The Decision happen! I couldn’t add Chris Bosh too, but I was able to sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas, as the Heat did that offseason.
Having succeeded at signing LeBron, I stopped after that fourth attempt. I could’ve achieved it on the first had I managed my roster properly, but the next two attempts demonstrated how it really is a roll of the dice as to whether your efforts to clear cap space will ultimately matter. Unfortunately, getting Bosh as well would seem to be impossible. Even if you were lucky enough to have both LeBron and Bosh available in free agency, with the way that the offseason is designed in NBA Live 10’s Dynasty, there’s no way that you could get far enough under the cap to make it happen. Still, if luck is on your side, you can at least replicate LeBron’s decision in NBA Live 10!
The Decision in NBA 2K10’s The Association
So, it’s possible to have LeBron James make the same decision in NBA Live 10’s Dynasty mode that he did 16 years ago in real life. What about The Association in NBA 2K10? The Association is a much deeper mode than Dynasty, and represents certain aspects of the salary cap that NBA Live’s franchise experience doesn’t. With that in mind, I was certainly curious to see if that would make it easier or harder to replicate The Decision. First of all though, I had to simulate through the 2010 season. I loaded up the final official roster – actually, my fixed version of that roster with the missing Legends added – and simulated through to the end of the 2010 campaign.
The 2010 season simulation in NBA 2K10 wasn’t nearly as kind to the Miami Heat as NBA Live 10 had been. A slow start and woeful ending saw them finish 30-52; not exactly a team that LeBron James would want to join, even if Dwyane Wade was sticking around and Chris Bosh was on the way! Thankfully, free agent negotiations in franchise modes often come down to meeting a player’s financial demands, so as long as LeBron didn’t re-sign with Cleveland, I was in with a shot. As with NBA Live 10, NBA 2K10’s rosters accurately reflect the contracts that were expiring in 2010, so all I had to do was let them come off the books, and then hold onto that cap space.
Top-seeded Cleveland was upset by the Chicago Bulls in the first round; something I wouldn’t have minded seeing at the time! In terms of a franchise mode narrative, that would certainly give a prime LeBron James an incentive to leave, though it remained to be seen whether he would in any of my five attempts to replicate The Decision. The Bulls bowed out to Orlando in the second round, and the Magic went all the way to the Finals. Out West, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers lost to Oklahoma City in the second round. The Thunder then lost to the Rockets in the Conference Finals, setting up a rematch of the 1995 NBA Finals with Houston winning in seven.
As the 2010 offseason got underway, it was immediately apparent that the depth of The Association would make the task more complex than it had been in NBA Live 10’s Dynasty. The Association accounts for player and team options in contracts, and while that was potentially to my benefit with Mario Chalmers and James Jones, it remained to be seen what Dwyane Wade would do. On my first attempt, Wade opted in to the tune of $17.15 million. I retained Chalmers at a far more affordable salary than in NBA Live 10, and declined Jones’ option to free up $4.64 million. The next screen informed me that LeBron was among the players who declined their options.
Chris Bosh opted not to become a free agent, but if I handled my payroll properly, I could at least land LeBron James, which of course is the whole point of attempting to replicate The Decision! I re-signed Udonis Haslem to a three-year, $5.24 million deal, which was far less than he’d demanded in NBA Live 10. In the interest of mimicking the Heat’s offseason moves as closely as possible, I also brought back Carlos Arroyo and James Jones on more affordable contracts. This left me with $29 million in cap space entering the Draft. Unfortunately, I couldn’t trade the Heat’s first round pick, which thanks to their lousy 2010 season ended up being the fifth overall selection.
Indeed, the ability to trade picks during the Draft is one of the few things that NBA Live 10’s Dynasty offers that NBA 2K10’s The Association doesn’t! Still, I had plenty of cap room even after signing both draft picks. LeBron James made his decision, but unfortunately, it wasn’t to join the Miami Heat. Although he opted out of his contract, he did so in order to re-sign with the Cavaliers for $123.51 million over six seasons. With Bosh remaining a Toronto Raptor and Amar’e Stoudemire also opting into the last year of his deal with the Suns, that left Carlos Boozer as the best available free agent. As a Chicago Bulls fan, that certainly took me back to their 2010 offseason!
Still, I now knew that maintaining the cap space to sign LeBron was definitely doable in NBA 2K10’s The Association. In fact, with players such as Haslem, Chalmers, and Arroyo being retainable on far more realistic contracts, that part is actually easier than in NBA Live 10’s shallower Dynasty! To that end, the only real roadblock is whether or not LeBron will opt out with the intention of signing elsewhere, as that clearly isn’t a given. It underscores how having cap room alone is no guarantee that you’ll be able to sign the big name free agents that you covet in franchise modes. That’s realistic of course – again, something I know all too well as a Bulls fan – but it’s still frustrating.
I had four more attempts left before admitting defeat, so I reloaded the save and began the 2010 offseason anew. On the second attempt, LeBron again opted out only to re-sign with Cleveland, albeit to a five-year, $98.8 million deal. He also re-signed on my third and fourth attempts. With only one attempt left, I wasn’t filled with confidence! Sure enough, LeBron chose to stay in Cleveland once again. However, I decided to have just one more attempt, after lowering his Loyalty and Play for Winner attributes using REDitor II. After keeping me waiting for 15 days while he entertained several teams’ offers, LeBron finally signed…with the Washington Wizards! Mission failed.
Final Thoughts
In the end, replicating The Decision and getting LeBron James to the Miami Heat proved to be far more feasible in NBA Live 10’s Dynasty than NBA 2K10’s The Association. While it’s easier to manage your cap space in NBA 2K10 thanks to the deeper contract options and more reasonable salary expectations for players such as Udonis Haslem and Carlos Arroyo, LeBron is far more likely to actually be available to sign in NBA Live 10. Again, I could’ve actually signed LeBron on my very first attempt if I hadn’t messed up my offseason roster management, and I only needed three more attempts to make it happen. I was 0-for-6 in my attempts in NBA 2K10.
It goes to show the importance of having additional attributes that factor into free agency logic, though again, not even modding them could guarantee success! It’s possible that if I continued to reload and redo the 2010 offseason, I might be able to replicate The Decision in NBA 2K10; especially with those modded attributes. Also, if I ran the entire simulation again and the Heat finished higher in the standings, then that might just tip the scales in my favour as well. However, I can definitely conclude that despite being the shallower mode – or indeed because of that lack of depth – it’s significantly more feasible to get LeBron to South Beach in NBA Live 10’s Dynasty.
With that being said, NBA 2K10 is probably a more accurate reflection of what we expected to happen in 2010, right down to his Loyalty attribute. In that regard, it certainly proves Mark Twain’s point about fiction following expectations that reality scoffs at. Also, much like Kevin Durant’s Loyalty rating of 100 in NBA 2K16, the benefit of hindsight makes LeBron’s reluctance to leave the Cavs look rather ironic today! NBA Live 10 seemingly did a better job of predicting the future, but it’s the result of less sophistication as much as anything else. And so, as we await another decision from LeBron James, perhaps the only sure thing is the unpredictability.
