Spike Lee, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson were on hand for NBA 2K16’s #BeTheStory press event, a full week before the game’s release.
The event was a surprisingly intimate and personal affair, as the three NBA players spoke in earnest about their careers and lives. This does tie in with the game, as Spike Lee has taken MyCareer into a very strong narrative direction. You can recreate Harden’s, Davis’, or Curry’s lives, or live your own dream, as you play through your career from high school through the big leagues. Your recruiting into the NBA is set up as a big narrative moment, as evidenced in this clip.
#BeTheStory – Spike Lee introduces a clip from 'Living da Dream' from MyCareer mode. Who will you be recruited by? pic.twitter.com/Y4VYse4j94
— 2K United Kingdom (@2K_UK) September 21, 2015
#BeTheStory #NBA2K16 pic.twitter.com/WAmrUHt4QF
— Michael Rothman (@TheRealRothman) September 21, 2015
Two other major narrative moments involve a friend approaching you about funding his rap career and receiving your first pay packet.
As these tweets indicate, the three players went all in on sharing their personal stories at the event:
Davis, Harden and Curry are sharing their #BeTheStory moments and how they were recruited into basketball. Deep. pic.twitter.com/vtRvW6Czzi
— 2K United Kingdom (@2K_UK) September 21, 2015
Steph Curry on his decision to leave school after his Junior year #NBA2K16 #BeTheStory pic.twitter.com/XP0t7aKzXp
— Michael Rothman (@TheRealRothman) September 21, 2015
#BeTheStory – Curry shares with us just how tough playing College was yet also how enjoyable it was looking back. pic.twitter.com/dAr1OU8mbq
— 2K United Kingdom (@2K_UK) September 21, 2015
#BeTheStory – James Harden bought his mom a car with his first pay and got himself a house to get comfortable. Was BIG for a young age.
— 2K United Kingdom (@2K_UK) September 22, 2015
Shaq bought a horse. Rode it. It threw him off… It still lives with him and he likes to feed it from time to time. pic.twitter.com/4SU6AKP1jA
— 2K United Kingdom (@2K_UK) September 22, 2015
A very interesting moment occurred during the presser as well, which may shock you, if you did not know Spike Lee that much anyway. In the middle of conversation, Spike suddenly went in on a thread about high school athletes and the money they generate. He specifically refers to the NCAA as pimps for not paying athletes.
Spike Lee just called the NCAA "pimps" for not paying student athletes #NBA2K16 #BeTheStory pic.twitter.com/HC93xY3NUn
— Michael Rothman (@TheRealRothman) September 21, 2015
Obviously, Spike is not just well versed in basketball, but sports video games. If you needed to revisit this, you can read about the NCAA lawsuit revolving around EA’s sports games here. EA has settled out of the lawsuit, but NCAA remains a plaintiff for the very act Lee accused them of.
While Spike’s comments were directed at NCAA, one wonders if they will affect EA Sports as well. Of course, he’s pretty confident in working with 2K Sports, that Take Two Interactive did not give anyone licensed in the game the shaft.
On the side, Spike has entered himself into MyCareer as a character called Frequency Vibrations, so Sal and Mars Blackmon fans have that to look forward to as well.
How do you feel about Spike’s comments regarding the NCAA? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
NBA 2K16 A Spike Lee Joint will be released on September 29, 2015 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Windows, and Xbox 360.
