Review: NBA 2k14’s MyCAREER Mode (Part II) (NBA.com/Philippines Exclusive)

Below is an except of my article from NBA.com/Philippines.

The newest Jordan Brand endorser: Early on in your NBA 2k14’s MyCAREER, you will be faced with your first and (arguably) toughest endorsement choice: Nike or Jordan Brand. Remember, choose wisely as it will determine what kind of shoes you’ll be allowed to wear moving forward.

Needs Assessment

Before doing anything, one needs to know what they have and the Boston Celtics had a lot—usually of the same thing: A regular rotation of undersized bigs (between 6’8’’ and 6’9’’) as well as swing guards with pretty much the same height (between 6’1’’ and 6’5’’) and skill set.¹

Doc’s physical attributes (6’3’’ | 185 lbs.) only added to the redundancy in the Celtics backcourt. Fifteen games into the season, he was—in many ways—a slightly taller, poor man’s version of Avery Bradley with the untapped passing potential of a Rajon Rondo. Doc didn’t do anything exceptionally well (as is the case with all MyCAREER players in their rookie year) but possessed the potential to be so much more.

Redefining my role

Given this overlap in talent, I was reminded of what the Celtics head scout said during my pre-draft interview, “point guard is the one position that this team is solid long term” and that they would like to “convert (me) to a shooting guard in order to play alongside Rajon.” In theory, it sounded like a good plan as receiving a pass from a deft assist man like Rondo (Signature skill) can only increase the odds of my attempts. The thing was, MyCAREER generated pass-first point guards usually start out as non-shooters and the very idea of even attempting a medium range jumper or a three-pointer would result in a “bad shot attempt” teammate grade almost every time out.

Addendum:

Click here to read about my NBA 2k14 MyCAREER Review (Part I)
Click here to read about my NBA 2k14 MyCAREER Review (Part III)
Click here to read about the statistics of MyCAREER Player

1. Despite being the tallest player on the team, rookie center Kelly “Sunshine” Olynyk played sparingly for the majority of the season while Gerald Wallace couldn’t seem to crack the active roster. My Celtics were also without the services of 6’11’ Brazilian rookie Vitor Faverani who only signed with Boston after 2k14 had finalized their stock rosters.