Can LeBron James Win With the Worst Teammates in NBA 2K20?
How far can King James carry a team of fringe pros?
Over the years, LeBron James has received a fair amount of criticism for assembling superteams. This began with “The Decision” that formed the Heatles in Miami and continued both when James returned to Cleveland to join up with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, and later when he was willing to trade nearly the entire Lakers roster for Anthony Davis.
However, to say that LeBron needs a star-studded ensemble in order to succeed couldn’t be further from the truth. In the 2006–07 season, a 22-year old James led a Cavaliers starting five that included Eric Snow, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the NBA Finals. These are some decent pieces, but overall a squad that should have been more than happy to get bounced in the second round of the playoffs.
In the 2015 NBA Finals, LeBron took the Warriors to six games with Irving and Love both injured and out of the lineup. In the series, James averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists. After defeating the 73–win Warriors in the 2016 Finals, LeBron steamrolled through the Eastern Conference in the 2017 playoffs, dropping just one game en route to his seventh-straight NBA Finals appearance before averaging a triple-double in those finals.
After Irving departed the following offseason, LeBron was stuck with a hodgepodge lineup featuring Love, who always seemed to be dealing with a nagging injury, inconsistent players such as J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, and Jeff Green, and a group of 36-year olds in Dwyane Wade, Jose Calderon, and Kyle Korver. Yet, somehow, after a pair of Game 7 victories against the Pacers and Celtics, LeBron and company made the NBA Finals yet again as probably the weakest team to do so in recent memory. Averaging 34/9/9 on 62% true shooting in the playoffs, it was a legendary carry job from the King.
Time has shown us that when LeBron James is on a team, the pieces around him often don’t seem to matter. Why not put that idea to the test?
Phase One: Creation
Even at 35 years old and in his 17th NBA season, LeBron still remains the joint-highest rated player in NBA 2K20 with a 97 overall rating, a mark shared by Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden. And for good reason, too. Despite now sitting third all-time in career minutes played (including playoffs), James is still improving parts of his game and is currently leading the NBA in assists for the first time in his career. LeBron’s numbers remain ridiculous, the Lakers are in first place in the Western Conference and James is likely to finish in the top two in MVP voting.
After having just James, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Kuzma on their roster at one point in free agency, L.A. managed to build one of the deepest rosters in the league. But what would happen if we took that all away?
This will be the greatest challenge of LeBron James’ career. With a group of nobodies around him, will LeBron be able to make his teammates better and march into the playoffs and beyond, or will he flounder, perhaps not winning any games at all? There is only one way to find out.
The Los Angeles Lakers are no more. An experiment of this magnitude requires the creation of a new NBA franchise, one that accurately reflects the nature of its existence. The weight of this team, along with its hopes, expectations, and fate, lies on the back of one man. That fact will not go unknown.
The logo for the Jamestown LeBrons is none other than King James himself. When playing at King James Center, players and fans alike will be drawn to LeBron’s face at center court, reminding everyone whose house they’re in. And, of course, each jersey depicts the legend himself, the only player of any real value on this team which nonetheless has their sights set on the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
With the formation of this new, hopefully formidable franchise, it was time. I fired up a new MyLeague and gave the LeBrons their rightful spot in the NBA’s Pacific Division.
Phase Two: Preparation
The next step would be to conduct a fantasy draft and assemble our team. The rules were simple. I would modify the draft order to give the LeBrons the first pick in the draft. With that pick, I would obviously take LeBron. After that, I would have to sort the available player pool by lowest overall rating and fill out my roster.
This means that while LeBron was a 97 overall, the rest of my team would be comprised of players in the 60s currently on two-way contracts splitting their time between the NBA and the G League. For 13 borderline NBA players, this would be an incredible opportunity to play alongside the greatest player of the century.
Now, it’s worth mentioning that among the worst players in the game, there isn’t the greatest positional diversity, so I gave myself a bit of leeway in creating a balanced roster. However, everyone chosen was among the worst 25 or so players in the game.
With the first pick in the MyLeague Fantasy Draft, the Jamestown LeBrons selected LeBron James. As the first round continued, big names like Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, and Joel Embiid came off the board one by one, and that’s perfectly fine. The LeBrons aren’t interested in any of them.
Then, as things transitioned into the second round, even more highly talented players were selected to complement their teams’ top choices. If Leonard, Lillard, and Embiid were taken in the first round, these were the Montrezl Harrells, C.J. McCollums, and Tobias Harrises of the world. Second rounders are strong, dependable guys that can even make the All-Star Game with a breakout season.
Even a former MVP, Derrick Rose, went off the board near the tail end of the round. You can still get great value at the end of the second round, but the LeBrons were thinking more Dollar Store great value with their selection at #60. With plenty of big names still on the board, the LeBrons selected Kobi Simmons.
In real life, Simmons is a third-year player on a two-way contract with the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and G League’s Greensboro Swarm. Undrafted in 2017, he played 32 games for the Grizzlies as a rookie, averaging six points per game before appearing just once the following season, seeing 1:48 of court time for the Cavaliers and registering no stats.
But pay no mind to any of that. While Simmons’ pro career may be somewhat underwhelming, I sense vast untapped potential in the ex-Arizona point guard. LeBron, meet your new Robin.
Due to the nature of snake drafts, the LeBrons were immediately right back on the clock with pick #61. Fresh off the ambitious selection of Kobi Simmons, the LeBrons got back on track with the clear, obvious decision that any NBA general manager would make. I’m of course talking about the slam dunk that is Drew Eubanks.
That’s right — Drew Eubanks. Just ahead of bigs Mitchell Robinson, Lauri Markkanen, and LaMarcus Aldridge, the LeBrons selected the sometimes Austin Spur sometimes San Antonio Spur who has recently seen increased playing time in the bubble with Aldridge out for the remainder of the year following shoulder surgery.
And if you happen to be questioning why I would be so confident in this choice, look no further than this clip of Eubanks murdering Thanasis Antetokounmpo in broad daylight.
I mean, come on. I don’t know where a young man from Starkville, Mississippi learns to do that, but Eu can Bank on him starting at center for the LeBrons. (I apologize profusely for that pun).
Anyways, 11 rounds later and with the 420th (nice) and final pick of the draft, the LeBrons selected Bonzie Colson, the undersized forward out of Notre Dame who led the ACC in rebounding in the 2016–17 season.
The LeBrons had been assembled. Let’s take a look at your (maybe) future NBA champions.
PG: Kobi Simmons, Naz Mitrou-Long, Kalin Lucas
SG: Marial Shayok, Stephan Hicks
SF: LeBron James, Bonzie Colson, Oshae Brissett
PF: Zylan Cheatham, Jarrell Brantley, Jarrod Uthoff
C: Moses Brown, Angel Delgado, Drew Eubanks
Phase Three: Simulation
At long last, it was finally time to begin the experiment. Could LeBron and a team of 60-something overalls win the NBA Championship, or would they fall flat on their faces?
On social media, 2K seemed to believe it was the former, releasing a bold prediction that LeBron would be able to get the job done and win his fourth title.
As for our lineup, we would need LeBron on the court as much as humanly possible. However, at the same time, it would be a clear mistake (and huge injury risk) to play the King all 48 minutes. Eventually, I settled on 38 minutes per game, slightly more than the real-life leader, which is currently Damian Lillard with 37.2.
With the rest of the team, I decided on distributing minutes relatively evenly amongst the roster, with nobody receiving more than 24 minutes. Since none of the players were any good in the first place, it made sense to at least keep them fresh.
For the first game of the season, the LeBrons were matched up against the Clippers, led by Damian Lillard, Victor Oladipo, and Kevin Love. Yeah, this looks like a fair fight.
Impressively, it actually was. Behind a positively ludicrous game from LeBron, the LeBrons mounted an impressive fourth-quarter comeback before losing by just five points, 121–116. King James totaled 56 points on 22–28 shooting (87.6 TS%!) while no one else on the team managed to score more than 11.
Encouraged by LeBron’s monumental debut, I was looking forward to what the season had to bring. Unfortunately, though, the team dropped both of their next two games and sustained a major injury after that third defeat.
If this had been LeBron, I have no idea what would have happened.
I’m not going to say that Angel Delgado’s injury was a net positive, but perhaps seeing one of their own go down in devastating fashion served as some sort of spark. In the following game, the LeBrons recorded their first win of the season.
I’d like to imagine LeBron in the pregame huddle motivating the team to “Do it for Angel.”
However, if he did, it was only for that single game against the Grizzlies, because it quickly became apparent that even with the heroism of one LeBron James, one player does not a basketball team make. Rapidly dropping one game after another, the LeBrons were in freefall.
By the time of the All-Star draft, the LeBrons were just 14–35. Yet, despite this, LeBron James had remarkably been named a team captain for the game alongside James Harden.
Team LeBron would go on to lose the All-Star Game, a result that would portend more struggles for LeBron-named basketball teams for the rest of the season. When it was all said and done, the Jamestown LeBrons finished their campaign a disappointing 22–60, putting them dead last in the simulated NBA.
Luka Doncic won MVP with an unbelievable season somehow even better than the one he registered in real life, but LeBron’s season was nothing to scoff at. In fact, it was astounding. James finished on the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Second Team while averaging a league-leading 37.1 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, and 6.8 assists per game.
LeBron finished the year with an unfathomable PER of 36.4 (Giannis is in position to break the Wilt’s record this season with a mark around 32) and a career-best true shooting percentage of 66.8% on 56/40/74 shooting splits while making 277 threes on the year.
But ultimately, this wasn’t a test of whether or not LeBron could put up numbers with a team full of scrubs. The King balled out, but that didn’t translate to success with the LeBrons.
Luckily, the experiment was far from over…
Phase Four: Iteration
Did you think one measly failure would be enough to stop me on my quest to have LeBron lead a woefully outgunned squad to basketball glory? That’s heresy!
The rules were modified a bit for round two, though. Instead of choosing the very worst players in the game, this time the rule was that after taking LeBron with the first pick, I could fill out the rest of the LeBrons roster with any players who went unselected in the fantasy draft.
Practically, this meant I drafted the same roster as in the first simulated season before releasing everyone not named LeBron and replacing them with the most enticing options from the free-agent pool.
Just like before, I gave myself some leniency in choosing the team. It ended up a combination of the highest-rated players available and some slightly lower-rated players who were either A) current or former teammates of LeBron, B) enemies of LeBron, or C) provided good meme value.
PG: Corey Joseph, Matthew Dellavedova
SG: Langston Galloway, Troy Daniels, Ron Baker
SF: LeBron James, Kyle Korver, Evan Turner, Nick Young
PF: Mike Scott, Vince Carter, Jared Dudley
C: Boban Marjanovic, Joakim Noah, Robin Lopez
Something important to mention about this team: look at everyone’s ages. All of our guards are at least 27 and every forward or big is in their 30s. Try to think of why that might be — it’ll be important later.
Why will it be important later? Because this team, despite featuring players 5–10 overall points higher than the previous one, wasn’t any better.
For whatever reason, these guys were awful. You may have noticed that the above roster pictures were taken at the end of the season, revealing their abysmal final record: 21–61. Yeah, that’s right. This team, consisting largely of players on actual NBA rosters, performed even worse than the most incapable players that NBA 2K20 has to offer.
I was stunned and immensely disappointed. Well, outside of the time LeBron dropped a 40-point triple-double as the LeBrons beat the Phoenix Suns 156–155 in triple overtime. That was dope.
Like last time, Doncic took MVP while James finished All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Second Team. But once again, James’ accolades failed to translate into team success. Was there a destructive locker room environment stemming from James’ rocky relationship with Joakim Noah? Were Matthew Dellavedova and Kyle Korver so accustomed to being carried by the king that they stopped putting in any effort at all? Was Boban Marjanovic too busy making cameos in action films?
Whatever the case, I couldn’t sit with this end result and ended up simulating another season with this same roster to see if things would fare any differently. Interestingly, the LeBrons did perform much better in the second go-round, nearly doubling their win total and finishing 38–44.
It wasn’t enough for the LeBrons to sneak in the playoffs, but it was enough to convince voters to give LBJ his fifth MVP award.
Look — this is great and all, but we’re two iterations and three simulations in, and the Jamestown LeBrons have still yet to sniff the postseason, much less an NBA Championship. Granted, LeBron hasn’t been given much help, but that’s literally the whole point of this exercise!
Let’s give it one more go.
For our final experiment, the rules will be as follows: the LeBrons will draft LeBron with the first pick of the draft. They will then forfeit their selections in rounds two through five (I’ll take some of our G League friends and immediately cut them following the draft).
From there, it’s game on. The LeBrons have the rest of the draft to put together a championship roster, and free use of the free-agent pool to round things out. With their second selection coming at #180 overall, every other team will get to assemble their entire starting five and grab a sixth man before LeBron is allowed a single teammate.
Somehow, this is an improvement.
Alright, so remember a short while back when we were talking about age? Here’s the deal. In NBA 2K, fantasy drafts don’t go entirely based on player overalls. Since MyLeague is set up to last for up to 80 seasons (!) and we’re starting from scratch, younger players and those with higher potentials are valued greater than older, similarly-rated players who are later in their careers.
This helps the LeBrons. We’re not trying to build a team for the future — we’re trying to win right now, and that means we can find good deals on players who have fallen a little farther than they probably should have.
Where possible, I also prioritized three-point shooting, since past simulations showed generous three-point percentages for talented marksmen.
With the 180th pick in the draft, the LeBrons chose Brook Lopez as the first real selection and immediately followed with George Hill. Seeing how weak the free-agent pool was for point guards in the last two experiments, I needed to grab who was possibly the last starter-quality PG on the board.
At the tail end of the eighth round, I was stunned to see the 34-year Marc Gasol available. The team already had a center, but having another former All-Star big man who could space the floor was too good an option to pass up. The LeBrons then selected Danny Green to begin the ninth round, an actual starter for LeBron’s real-life Lakers.
When it was all said and done, the new look LeBrons were:
PG: George Hill, Shaun Livingston, Cory Joseph
SG: Danny Green, Andre Iguodala
SF: LeBron James, C.J. Miles, Kyle Korver
PF: Thaddeus Young, Meyers Leonard, Mike Scott
C: Brook Lopez, Marc Gasol, Kyle O’Quinn
There are no superstars here, but this was a promising roster. And for the first time in this experiment, the LeBrons won their first game of the season. Then they won another. And another. And another. And another. In all, it was an 11–2 start to the year.
I grew very excited very quickly. Had I done it? Had I managed to craft the perfect roster, a group of men willing to sacrifice and put the best interests of the team ahead of any personal aspirations? Is that all it took — a group of veterans who had experienced success before and knew what it took?
Not so fast. The LeBrons shot out of the gates but hit a bump in the second month of the season, bringing their record back down near .500. As the season went on, they found their footing again, putting themselves firmly in the playoff picture. And then, like so many LeBron James-led teams of the past, they began playing their best basketball right in time for the postseason.
With a final tally of 52 wins and 30 losses, the LeBrons had established themselves as one of the better teams in the NBA and one to watch out for in the postseason. They ended up third in the Western Conference and King James again took MVP honors.
Now, it was time. Everything had been leading up to this. Could the Jamestown LeBrons capture the NBA Championship, or would it be too much for 35-year old James to manage?
Phase Five: Culmination
Only five times in the 73-year history of the NBA has a #3 seed won a title. The last team to do it was the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 when they upset a Miami Heat team led by…LeBron James. This would be a chance to undo a painful memory.
But even that Mavericks team had won 57 games in the regular season. The LeBrons only managed 52 wins. That would be the worst regular-season performance by an NBA Championship-winning team since the 1995 Houston Rockets who went just 47–35 before capturing the title as a #6 seed in what remains the only time a team seeded lower than #4 won it all.
This would not be easy.
In the first round, the LeBrons drew the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were led, funny enough, by their real-life former sixth man-turned league MVP James Harden.
The LeBrons won both of their home games to open the series. In Games 3 and 4, the Thunder matched, tying the series at two games apiece. It was now effectively a Best-of -3. Things headed back to Jamestown for Game 5, where the LeBrons took control with a dominant win.
However, disaster struck as the unthinkable happened — team namesake LeBron James went down with an injury. Luckily, it wouldn’t be serious enough for the King to miss time, but he’d be dealing with a pinched nerve in the back for 4–6 weeks, putting the team’s playoff run in jeopardy.
In a tight series, the LeBrons were in trouble. They’d have to find a way to win one of their next two games against James Harden’s Thunder or be eliminated in the first round before their run really even began. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
LeBron James was not about to let this injury get in the way of his title aspirations. This was his team, after all. And he was leading them to the promised land.
Game 6 was one for the ages. James Harden dropped 63 points at home, including 13 triples. But it wouldn’t be enough. The LeBrons erased a six-point deficit entering the fourth quarter by dropping a whopping 46 points in the final period. LeBron James had 54 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists, and the Jamestown LeBrons marched into the second round.
The #7 seed San Antonio Spurs stunned the #2 Portland Trail Blazers in five games, making them the LeBrons’ next victims. The Spurs were a well-rounded bunch, led by Bam Adebayo, Jaylen Brown, and Spencer Dinwiddie, but they stood no match to the LeBrons, who sent them swiftly packing in five games.
In another remarkable closeout performance, LeBron James totaled 45 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists. Danny Green made all four of his triples and the team broke away early, taking the game in a landslide, 145–114.
The first two rounds were just a warmup. Now, it was time for the real test. In the Western Conference Finals, the LeBrons had to face the #1 seed Los Angeles Clippers, led, of course, by Doncic, who plays like an absolute glitch in the game.
Doncic had the best team — no question. He also had something else — the MVP award — something LeBron thought he was deserving of. Channeling his inner Jordan, that provided him all the motivation he needed.
Despite holding home-court advantage, the Clippers were never in this series. The LeBrons took Game 1 and then extended their advantage to 2–0 behind a huge, 46-point triple-double from LBJ.
Guys, he’s still hurt! And he will be for another few weeks! And he’s still doing this! How LeBron James remains capable of dispatching opponents one by one in remarkable fashion simply boggles the mind. Yet, here we are.
After taking both games on the road, the LeBrons did drop Game 3. However, they quickly bounced back in Game 4, getting the home win they needed to bring themselves to match point, up 3–1 in the series with one remaining home game in Game 6.
But that game never happened. Back on the road in Game 5, it was a flat-out duel between the teams’ two superstars. The Clippers took a big lead after the first quarter, but the LeBrons cut things down to single-digits by halftime and exploded in the third to form a nine-point lead of their own. That lead held strong down the stretch to give the LeBrons a 4–1 win in the series.
Doncic thrilled with 32 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists, but the scoring came inefficiently on 31 shots. LeBron, on the other hand, scored 43 points on the same number of attempts while also grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out nine assists.
The Jamestown LeBrons had taken down the #1 seed and advanced to the NBA Finals. Awaiting them was the #2 seed from the East, the Chicago Bulls.
The Chicago Bulls are led by last year’s NBA Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard. The rest of their starting five consists of J.J. Barea, Josh Richardson, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Nikola Vucevic. Just like the LeBrons, they’ve had a relatively smooth ride through the playoffs thus far, having played just a single Game 6 and no Game 7s.
LeBron has been often (and largely unfairly) maligned for his NBA Finals record, which currently stands at 3–6. Would a fourth title be enough to put him ahead in the GOAT argument? On a team that included none of the other top 179 picks in the draft, probably.
As the higher seed, the Bulls had home-court advantage. Game 1 was a high-scoring affair, as would be the series as a whole. Tight the whole way through, the LeBrons prevailed behind 32 points and 16 assists from King James. Danny Green provided 18 points and 6 steals, and Marc Gasol came up three assists shy of a triple-double.
But the Bulls edged out another nailbiter in Game 2 to tie the series 1–1 as the teams traveled to Jamestown.
George Hill was the breakout performer of Game 3, pouring in 30 points while missing just twice. LeBron dropped another 34 in his first game fully healthy and the Bulls were crushed by 40.
Game 4 presented an opportunity for the LeBrons to take a commanding lead in the series. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Despite a 38/8/11 line from King James and 47 total points in the fourth quarter, the Bulls hung on 137–134.
And things got even worse in Game 5 when the Bulls pulled away in the second half at home to take a 3–2 series lead. The LeBrons were now on their last life. One more loss and the Bulls would be NBA Champions with LeBron coming up just short yet again.
Game 6 at home was do or die. And let me tell you, it was a rollercoaster. The Bulls took a strong lead in the first quarter but found themselves down 60–57 at halftime following a LeBrons surge. That lead grew to 10 entering the fourth but quickly collapsed as the Bulls tied the game and later took the lead midway through the final period.
The lead went back and forth several times over the last few minutes, and I can say without exaggeration it was one of the most stressful moments I’ve had playing a video game.
When the dust settled, the final score read: LeBrons 130, Bulls 127. They had done it. We were headed to a Game 7.
It had been an incredible run for LeBron. He had taken the team bearing his name further than anyone would have expected, dropping absurd performance after absurd performance along the way. The ultimate victory was now just 48 minutes away.
In the NBA, Game 7s are notoriously difficult to win on the road. Of 133 attempts, the road team has won just 28, or about 21% of the time. In the NBA Finals, it’s only happened once in the last 40 years. That was, of course, LeBron James in 2016. Could he do it again?
I had no choice but to watch the entire game to find out.
From the jump, LeBron was in command. On the first possession of the game, he hit from mid-range. A minute later, he threw down a dunk on Kawhi. It was one of four dunks in the first quarter alone. He was positively feeling it early, as you can tell from his reaction on this and-one off a nice feed from Andre Iguodala.
At the end of 12 minutes, the LeBrons found themselves up big, 36–18. LeBron was nearly outscoring the Bulls just by himself, with 16 points off 7/8 shooting.
In the early goings, it looked like a blowout. However, once LeBron went to the bench to start the second, the Bulls began to close the gap, cutting the lead to as little as five points. By halftime, it was still a competitive 59–50 ballgame.
But in the third quarter, LeBron wasted no time taking control and extending the lead back up. He was absolutely dominating and making it look easy. His dunk party continued as he stuffed the ball into the hoop repeatedly. In all, LeBron finished the game with 11 dunks, a number so crazy you’d have to see it to believe it.
Luckily, I have proof.
In the fourth quarter, the lead kept on growing. It was truly amazing to watch. With an NBA Championship on the line, the Bulls had been completely overwhelmed. LeBron James had transformed into a supernatural entity, the executioner of Chicago’s title hopes.
With each drained jump shot and thunderous jam, the result was only further cemented. LeBron was even getting his teammates involved in the action.
With a final score of 124–97, the Jamestown LeBrons were NBA Champions.
LeBron finished the game with 43 points, six rebounds, and eight assists on a ludicrous 19/27 shooting. George Hill had another great performance, and Thaddeus Young made all seven of his field-goal attempts as well. There simply was no stopping the Jamestown LeBrons.
On the flip side, it was a rough performance from Kawhi Leonard, who fell short of winning his third title. The Claw finished with just 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls in scoring, but even he was just 8/21.
Oh, and you already know who won Finals MVP.
LeBron James doesn’t need a superteam in order to win. He doesn’t need All-Stars or even 80-overall talent. Heck, the man doesn’t even need to be fully healthy. At 35 years old, LeBron James is a marvel. He is unbelievable, he is one of a kind, and he is a champion.
Connor Groel is a writer with a Bachelor’s degree in sport management from the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as editor of the Top Level Sports publication on Medium. His book, “Sports, Technology, and Madness,” is available now. You can follow Connor on Medium, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, and view his archives at toplevelsports.net.
