NBA 2K quaransimulation

The NBA has been on hiatus since March 11th, and I miss basketball. I decided to do something about that. I fired up NBA 2K20 on my PS4 and set up a custom league that swapped out the current version of each franchise for an entertaining historical version.

It’s not perfect - the 90s Reggie Miller-led Pacers are missing, and the best Warriors team included doesn’t have Kevin Durant - but it’s solid. I even expanded the league to include both the Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp Sonics from 1996 and the Durant-Westbrook-Harden Thunder from 2012. I included three current teams: the current Giannis-led Bucks, Kawhi-led Clippers, and Zion-led Pelicans.

After disabling trades to ensure no shenanigans screwed up the teams, I checked out the game’s projected power rankings:

That’s not bad - four NBA champions in the top five, with the fifth being the 73-9 Warriors that lost to the Cavs. Let’s see what happens when we sim the season!

In the East, wow!

The Jordan-Pippen-Rodman Bulls somehow barely made the playoffs as the 8 seed, below the Shaq-and-Penny Magic and the Jason Kidd Nets. And even more bafflingly, the Gilbert Arenas-led Wizards, who finished 41-41 in 2007, somehow made it to the 2 seed in the playoffs. LeBron-led teams took the #1 and #3 seeds.

Out West, the Shaq-Kobe three-peat Lakers finished with the best record in the league, just barely beating out the Kings they would beat in the 2002 Western Conference Finals and this year’s Clippers. And impressively, the 2008 Nuggets - led by Melo and Allen Iverson - made the playoffs.

Miami LeBron won the MVP, which adding to his wins in 2012 and 2013 gave him three in a row. Here’s who he beat out from the All-NBA first team:

Gilbert Arenas! So now we know how the Wizards made the playoffs. In fact, he finished 3rd in the league in scoring, averaging over 35 points per game, behind Sixers Iverson and Jordan.

Dream narrowly edged out Big Ben for the rebounds title.

And finally, all-time leader John Stockton beat out - of all people - Lonzo Ball for the assists title.

Okay, it’s playoff time. So who won the championship?

Wow! And I have to say, simming this game-by-game was actually shockingly riveting.

In the first round, both top seeds were tested. The 8-seed 2014 Spurs were up 3-2 on the 2001 Lakers but were blown out by nearly 50 points in game 6 at home and lost the series in seven. Meanwhile, the 8-seed 1996 Bulls knocked off the 2016 Cavs, giving Jordan fans ammo against LeBron fans.

In the conference finals, it was almost eerie. Both series saw teams blowing a 3-1 series lead that mirrored real-life collapses in the same round between the same teams. The 2002 Kings blew their shot against the 2001 Lakers, while the 2008 Celtics lost to the 2013 Heat. Of course, this calls back to the 2002 Kings-Lakers collapse / ref rigging and the 2012 Celtics-Heat comeback.

In the end, Miami LeBron atoned for Cleveland LeBron’s first-round failure by delivering a third straight championship for the Heat, knocking off the two-time defending champion Lakers. What a sentence, and what a season.

Oops … I think I miss basketball more now. Oh well, happy quarantine, everyone!