Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine got bounced in the first round of the NBA 2K player’s tournament. Let’s hand out a grade for his performance.
I never thought I’d be watching Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine play NBA 2K against Phoenix Suns big man Deandre Ayton on a Friday evening in April, but weird times call for weird situations.
LaVine is known as a gamer in the NBA community, but clearly 2K isn’t his strong suit. He mentioned to Ayton (someone who has been playing a lot of 2K) that he hasn’t played the game since his rookie year. This became obvious after watching him for a few minutes. It wasn’t pretty. At one point, he even asked Ayton how to throw an alley-oop pass. As someone who placed a wager on LaVine prior to the game, that was hard to hear.
Ayton had LaVine on the ropes right away, getting an early 11-point advantage. But as LaVine started to figure out the game, he started to make a comeback. He did a nice job of keeping the game close until Ayton blew it open in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, as is often the case in video games, the higher-skilled player prevailed.
Final score: Ayton 57, LaVine 41
The biggest problem for LaVine was his shot selection. He chucked a lot of contested threes.
Normally, LaVine’s game would result in a grade somewhere in the D to D+ range, but he was extremely entertaining on the mic, so I’m going to give him some extra credit.
At one point, LaVine mentioned that he should’ve just chosen the Bulls and shot with himself every time. I’m not sure if this was a deliberate shot at his teammates or not (I’m joking, it definitely wasn’t a deliberate shot at his teammates), but it was hysterical. That comment will live in the Twittersphere for all of eternity.
That comment wasn’t the best part of the night, though. That title belongs to the moment when I realized there was something in the world I could beat Zach LaVine in. I can now go to sleep happy.
Grade: C