Welcome to a new sort of column, one that requires little editing and hopefully slightly more thought. I’m going to cover a few of the hottest topic of the day in the NBA 2K League, as well as provide an amusing anecdote from the wild of NBA 2K.
Pelicans bring in Swin Cash
nba.com/Swin Cash
The New Orleans Pelicans have hired Swin Cash as the team’s Vice President of Basketball Operations/Team Development. Why is that important for the NBA 2K League?
Well, the Pelicans are one of 8 NBA franchises without an NBA 2K League team. Cash appeared on the analyst desk alongside Jamie “Dirk” Diaz Ruiz at the 2018 entry draft. Her new position with the Pelicans most likely has links to the NBA’s Team Marketing & Business Operations (TMBO) group, which plays a key role behind the scenes in the NBA 2K League. With a title including “team development,” Cash’s new position could have some bearing on the franchise’s future with the NBA 2K League.
The deadline for expansion bids was May 31, but that’s not a hard deadline. The Pelicans won’t immediately apply for a bid under Cash’s direction, if they haven’t applied this year, but next year could be the year, if the league is something the franchise is interested in—as heralded, perhaps, in small part by the hiring of Cash.
Season two players verified on Twitter
NBA 2K League players are once again being verified on Twitter. This time around, it’s the season two crop of players, with last year’s class having been verified late last season.
Lav 🇵🇷 on Twitter
Check mark looking dumb clean. 😤
Chiquita on Twitter
Is that a blue check mark I see 👀😏🤤🤭
Since the 2K community, and the Pro-Am community as a whole, is so reliant on Twitter, it’s a nice touch by the NBA 2K League to have its players verified. Hopefully up next: managers, team staffers and league personnel!
Tales from the wild west that is the Online Quick Match
There’s something about 2K that unlocks the imagination. Unfortunately, with the goal of winning in mind, that imagination often sees the wide open range of possibilities before it and runs screaming back into a dark corner of the attic.
The result? You play online quick matches against players who take every single shot with Luka Doncic or John Wall. The former might be a semi-viable strategy. The latter is purely laughable, especially in real life, where Wall would have torn his ACL at least three times in those 32 shot attempts (and signed a massive contract extension twice over in that time).
Anyhow, that was my situation. Clippers against a hard-charging Wall and the Wizards. The animations certainly helped the former team USA standout, but I like to think I held my ground well. Is there a quintuple-team button? I couldn’t find it, which enabled my opponent to take a quick 14-6 lead after one.
But, of course, I fought back, with sixth men of the year Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell doing yeoman’s work. Once I stopped Wall enough that he got onto a cold ring, the game was essentially over. My opponent tried to check the onrushing tide with a trick play: the old Dwight Howard jump pass.
If your imagination takes you to a place where the use of the Dwight Howard jump pass is encouraged… just shoot it.
Further reading
Len wrote a preview of the Ticket tournament
Film study on clips from week 7 of the league
