Check out the best offensive teams in NBA 2K15!
The Los Angeles Lakers are in for a potentially disastrous season, but don’t say that to Laker fans and most importantly aging superstar Kobe Bryant. The five-time champion claims to be in perfect health and wants to continue his quest for six rings while moving up on the most points scored list. The latter is a guarantee so long as the Black Mamba continues hoisting threes. The former, well, Dwight Howard bolted to Houston and management replaced him with point guard Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer.
For all we know, Linsanity may take hold in LA, especially with Lin under Bryant’s wing, but let’s face it. In order for the Lakers to even sniff the NBA Finals, they’d have to go through a stacked Western Conference that is home to defending champions the San Antonio Spurs, the offensive-minded Houston Rockets, the still effective Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder. In other words, a lot would have to go right for the Lakers to reach the championship round, including a huge trade before the deadline.
Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about management decisions in NBA 2K15, which gives you the option of taking real-time rosters into account or playing with a healthy Lakers team. You may not be able to get past the big dogs, most notably Cleveland and OKC, but in the right hands, the Lakers are deadly.
Naturally, it begins and perhaps ends with Kobe. At 36 years old, he’s a shadow of his younger self (you can always go with the Shaq/Kobe Lakers in 2K15), but he’s still the Mamba. If anyone leaves him wide open beyond the arc, you should absolutely drill a three-pointer in his or her face. Meanwhile, you’re free to call for a pick and send Bryant into the paint, where he’s capable of higher percentage shots that many players routinely miss.
For the most part, you can expect constant double teams on Kobe, forcing you to find a second and third option. This is where you’ll want to put the ball in point guard Steve Nash’s hands for added firepower, especially from range. Nash is older than Bryant, but he’s still one of the better point guards in the league when his legs work. Even if he’s out, don’t sleep on Jeremy Lin, who shot to stardom in limited time with the New York Knicks. There’s a decent chance online opponents will play off Lin expecting you to run the offense through the team’s bigger stars.
Carlos Boozer will do the dirty work inside, along with center Jordan Hill. Boozer can terrorize other teams in the paint, and can shoot mid-range jumpers at a decent clip. We’re not sure we’d put the ball in his hands with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but completely ignoring the guy is ill advised.
The rest of the Lakers? You won’t find many well-known players, outside of forward Jeremy Tyler, forward-guard Xavier Henry and of course, Nick Young, AKA Swaggy P, who is arguably more famous for dating rapper Iggy Azelea. If anything, you always have the option of infuriating other people by having Nick Young score, and score often.
Ultimately, you should share the ball between Bryant, Nash and Boozer, while crossing your fingers for the Jeremy Lin explosion.
NBA 2K15 is available now for multiple platforms.
