The Cleveland Cavaliers made some big changes to their roster on Thursday, and that means LeBron James has to break out his console and play some NBA 2K.
The Cavs superstar was one of the players not to get shipped out of Cleveland at the trade deadline, and those big changes mean a lot of uncertainty in the Cleveland lineup. The clock is ticking on this season, and with only a few months remaining before the postseason, the Cavs will be learning to play together on the fly. The team is essentially starting over, but James said on Friday that he’s excited to play with the retooled roster.
“It’s my job to get these guys integrated as fast as possible,” James said on Friday before a win over the Atlanta Hawks.
And he seems serious about that, saying he is breaking out NBA 2K18 to see how the new pieces will play in a lineup together.
Remember how LeBron said he played with potential Isaiah Thomas lineups on NBA 2K before IT made his comeback and the internet had a field day with it when Thomas didn't pan out? He's doing it again for the new guys, memes be damned: pic.twitter.com/7AuBlrRMSn
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 10, 2018
It’s not the first time he’s admitted to scouting using a video game, as he said the same thing about Isaiah Thomas while the guard recovered from his hip injury. But it’s high praise for NBA 2K18, and is just about the best advertisement for a sports video game as it can get, because it doesn’t get much better than basketball’s best player actually using it to research what could happen in real life.