After an insane offseason that saw star players moving all over the league, the 2017-2018 NBA season tips off tonight. Recently, 2K Sports, the publisher of the popular NBA 2K basketball series, utilized the newest game in the franchise, NBA 2K18, to predict the results of the upcoming season.
Using the MyLEAGUE mode within NBA 2K18, 2K Sports simulated the entirety of the upcoming NBA season to see who would take home the championship as well as seeing which players would take home individual awards.
These are just a few of the notable results from their simulation:
- Despite so many teams in the NBA reloading, the Golden State Warriors once again came out on top and beat the Boston Celtics in five games to win their third NBA Championship in four years. Additionally, Warriors coach Steve Kerr won Coach of the Year with Kevin Durant winning another Finals MVP.
- Many have been wondering who will win the Eastern Conference this year, and as mentioned, the addition of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward propelled the Boston Celtics into the NBA Finals. Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers finished the regular season as the top-seed in the East, the Celtics took down LeBron James and company in the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
- One of the more intriguing teams in the West this year is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who added Paul George and Carmelo Anthony in the offseason. While Russell Westbrook once again won MVP, the Thunder lost in the conference semifinals to the new Chris Paul-led Houston Rockets.
- While point guard Lonzo Ball is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year by many, the eventual winner of the award went to someone that many might have forgotten about: Ben Simmons. After missing the entirety of the 2016-2017 season, Simmons played a full year for the 76ers and averaged 16.2 points and 8.1 rebounds to take home the hardware while leading his team to their best record since 2002-2003.
- As for the teams that didn’t do so hot, the Miami Heat finished with only 22 wins to lock up the worst record in the league. The Indiana Pacers finished with the second worst record with the Orlando Magic and Sacremento Kings tying for third. On the bright side, now they each get more ping-pong balls in the draft lottery.
While this simulation can only take into account the league rosters as they currently stand, it’s always fun to see video games predict real-life sports in this way. If you own NBA 2K18, feel free to run your own season-long simulations to see what results you get.
For more on NBA 2K18, be sure to check out our review of the game.