NBA 2K15 simulation: Can LeBron lead the worst in East to Finals?
What if LeBron James was on some of the worse teams in the East? Would they win it all? We take to NBA 2K15 to find out.
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6 min read
For the past five seasons, King James has sat high upon his throne lording over the Eastern Conference. Against other Eastern Conference teams since 2011, LeBron James is a perfect 15-0 in playoff series, compiling a 60-18 record. James has only twice needed the full seven games to vanquish an Eastern opponent in the playoffs. Even switching from the Miami Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers hasn’t made a difference for James as he is set to play in his fifth straight finals this week.
James has taken advantage of his position in the East, putting up MVP-type numbers for essentially his whole career (27 PPG, 7.1 REB, 6.9 AST). He has been a fixture on the All-NBA first team since 2007, is a 11-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion. LeBron’s dominance is recognized league-wide however is the East that weak or is James that good?
The weakness of the East has been a topic of discussion for the past few seasons. Many have called for the NBA to end conferences which would have allowed the Oklahoma City Thunder to make the playoffs over a team like the Brooklyn Nets this season. Couple this with the suspected tanking of teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks, the Western Conference is clearly the stronger conference. But how great is James’ power in the East? Can he uplift any struggling team?
James has clearly made a world of difference in Cleveland. The Cavs were tenth in the East last season, finishing with a 33-49 record. This season thanks to LeBron (and coaching and roster changes), the Cavs were second in the East with a 53-29 record. But the question remains, can LeBron have a similar effect on other teams in the East?
Thankfully there is NBA 2K15 to help us answer this question. Yes, a video game is not a very scientific method to predict actual results but the intelligent play that games like 2K15 have, make the game quite believable and a good source to test this hypothesis out. Plus, this is just for pure entertainment reasons not scientific ones.
To test out LeBron’s strength in the East I added him to the rosters of the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets - some of the worst teams in the conference. The Detroit Pistons were actually worse than the Hornets this year but I picked Charlotte just to see if James could make a big difference on a middle of the road team.
I simmed three seasons of the Sixers, Knicks, Magic and Hornets with James on the roster that they ended 2015 with. However I did not put players like Carmelo Anthony and Joel Embiid on the injury list. If they were on the roster, they would play. Knowing this back story, here are the results.
Philadelphia 76ers: With big men like Nerlens Noel and Embiid, solid role players like Robert Covington and Tony Wroten, James at the small forward spot should conceivably help the Sixers at least get into the playoffs. However in my three simulations, Philadelphia only made the playoffs once, finishing less than .500 each time.
First time
12th in the East. Overall record: 31-51
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 24.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists.
Second time
Tied with Pistons for 9th in the East. Overall record: 36-46.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 28.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists.
Third time
8th in the East. Overall record: 38-44. Lost to the Chicago Bulls in the first round, 4-2.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 29.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists.
According to these results, the Sixers roster as currently built, is so poor that James can’t make them into a contender. He is still able to get his numbers and accolades but the team overall is not that great.
New York Knicks: Just imagine James and Melo playing together. How many championships would they win? You can almost hear James say, “Not one, not two, not three, not four…” But similar to James’ bold prediction when he first joined the Heat, this didn’t come to pass.
First time
4th in the East. Overall record: 49-33. Lost to the Miami Heat in the first round, 4-1.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 23.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists.
Second time
7th in the East. Overall record: 41-41. Beat the Toronto Raptors in the first round, 4-2. Got swept in the second round by the Chicago Bulls.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 29.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
Third time
5th in the East. Overall record: 45-37. Lost in the first round to the Bulls, 4-3.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 27.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.3 assists.
Even with James on their roster, the Knicks are going to be the Knicks.
Orlando Magic: Teaming James up with the young core of Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and Nikola Vucevic sounds like a formidable squad. Perhaps the lack of depth hurt the Magic in my simulations as they could never advance past the first round.
First time
10th in the East. Overall record: 37-45. Shockingly there were no injuries to key players. James still got his though. He was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 29.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists.
Second time
7th in the East. Overall record: 41-41. Lost to the Miami Heat in the first round, 4-3.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 23.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
Third time
6th in the East. Overall record 43-39. Lost to the Washington Wizards in the first round, 4-3.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 23.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists.
Apparently James would not be able to cast a spell to help lead the Magic to the Finals.
Charlotte Hornets: The Big Three of Kemba Walker, Al Jefferson and James is a solid trio. In fact, they are solid enough to win the NBA championship. At least that’s what happened in my second simulation with this team.
First time
2nd in the East. Overall record: 56-26. Lost to the Chicago Bulls in the conference finals, 4-2.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 22.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 9.3 assists.
Second time
4th in the East. Overall record: 49-33. Beat the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, 4-3.
James won the Finals MVP, was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 23.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 8.2 assists.
Third time
3rd in the East. Overall record: 51-31. Lost to the Chicago Bulls in the conference finals, 4-3.
James was on the All-NBA first team, made the All-Star game and averaged 25.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists.
According to these simulations, James on the Hornets would definitely sting the rest of the league.
Again these are all simulations however, the results are interesting. No matter where he plays, James will still be one of the best players in the league and teams would greatly benefit from LeBron being on their roster. But he isn’t able to just control the East as in all of the different simulations, his teams experienced mixed results.
