Derek Baldwin|Been Around the World (NBA 2K14 MyCareer)

[ChosenOne58]

I started one of these with NBA 2K11 and I had a lot of fun with it so I figured I'd try it again on 2k14. We are not taking the conventional road to the NBA. The player I've created is a bit older than most and he's played two seasons in Spain's ACB League before coming back to play in the NBA (think Udonis Haslem). Still trying to figure out how I want to report this. Probably going to go with story for behind the scenes stuff, mixed with game reports. Best of both worlds, association mode and RTG type storytelling. Definitely want to throw in some social media action. Just having some fun with the whole thing. I hope everybody enjoys it. If not, sucks to be you.

[ChosenOne58]

This is it. It's really over, I think to myself as I watch confetti falling from the ceiling of the arena. I look over at the bench that has cleared out before looking to the center of the court to watch Real Madrid basketball team celebrate winning the Spanish Cup. It was a back and forth match, the entire series. A real uphill battle, but we made it past the semifinals and I was feeling good about our chances to finally take it all. Tied two games apiece, this was really win or go home for us. I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see my opposition for the entire series, Marcus Slaughter standing behind me. I give him the customary one armed “bro hug” and we exchange a few post game pleasantries.

“You doing another season,” he asked.

“I don't know, man. We'll see what happens. Draft is at the end of the month. I'll catch up with you later, okay? Congratulations.”

“Hell of a series, man. It could have gone either way. You owed us from last season anyway.”

I give a quick nod and then I make my way towards the locker room, shaking hands with the opposing team along the way, but not really stopping to speak with anyway. Once I pass our bench, I see my agent Oliver Tate, in the stands waving at me. He certainly looks the part with his ear piece in and his iphone clutched in his hand. He walks down to me and holds out his fist for me to bump against mine.

“Tough loss, man. I definitely thought you guys had it in the bag.”

“Yeah, me too. Thanks for coming. Sorry we don't have much to celebrate.”

“Well, I wouldn't say that. There may be a little something to celebrate.”

“Something like what?”

“Go put on some real clothes and I'll meet you in the parking lot. We can talk at El Gran Barril.”

#########################

It is a short ride to the restaurant and we are seated quickly once we get inside. I’ve always liked this restaurant. Whenever I was in the mood for seafood this was one of the first places I would go to. The food is great, the staff is friendly. I have taken a fair share of my dates here. A few minutes later, I find myself pulled from my thoughts by the waitress taking our order. Surprisingly, Oliver orders a bottle of wine.

“If you haven’t noticed, we didn’t win the game tonight.”

He nods slowly. “And in case you forgot, I told you that there were other reasons to celebrate tonight.”

I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t.

“Well?”

“You don’t want to wait for your food? I heard the lobster here is delicious.”

“I could use some cheering up, Ollie.”

Just as he was about to speak the waiter comes back with our wine. We sit in silence for another five minutes as he sips from his glass. It’s times like these when I don’t know why I put up with him. But he works hard for me. I go to speak, but Oliver speaks before I do.

“It’s time for you to go home, Derek.”

“I know that, man. The season is over. I’ll probably hang around for another week.”

“No, you need to leave like in two days. That’s why I’m here. Well, that and the championship game, but mostly you leaving as quickly as possible.”

“Why? Did something happen at home?” I pull my phone from my pocket, but I don’t see any text messages from my brother, my parents, or my cousin. “Stop talking in riddles, man.”

“Okay, look. Remember how I told you that I was going to get your stats and some film out to some scouts and teams?”

I nod and wait for him to continue not wanting to get ahead of myself.

“Well……a few teams liked what they saw and they want you to work out for them starting next week. Then we have the Rookie showcase coming up after that and the actual draft will be after—“

“Wait,” I interrupt him. He just said so much so quickly and I was trying to process it all. The draft? As in the NBA Draft? “Are you serious right now?”

“If I’m lying, I’m flying. I told you to just keep putting in work. You had solid numbers this season, man. You guys went to the finals. You won the championship last season. Coaches like your work ethic. You’re a rookie, but still a veteran in a sense, so you’ve gotten all that craziness out of your system unlike some of these kids that are going into the league right now. I think this is excellent.”

“Wow. I don’t know what to say, man.”

Before he could respond the waitress places our entrees in front of us.

“Disfrutas.”

“Gracias,” we say simultaneously.

“Say ‘Thank you, O Dawg. I can’t wait to get back home and hear my name called in New York in three weeks’ or ‘I can’t wait to make you a super mega agent, O Dawg’ That would be a great place to start. Take your pick.”

I laugh and shake my head. He explains to me that I will probably go late first round, early second round. I would love to get to shake Commissioner Stern’s hand on draft night. That would be amazing. Not sure where I’ll end up. By this time next month, I could be in Cleveland, New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. The possibilities are endless. It doesn’t matter at this point though. I just want to play.

By the time we make it back to my apartment, I feel exhausted from all the excitement. Oliver crashes on the couch as usual and says he’ll help me start packing tomorrow. Once we get back to the States, it’s going to be a whirlwind before the actual draft. I have all of about 5 days before the showcase and then the draft is on Thursday.

[ChosenOne58]

“Yeah, I got it. I fly in on Sunday, do some press on Monday morning, practice on Monday afternoon. Light practice on Tuesday morning, Rookie Showcase on Tuesday night. Doing interviews with the teams on Wednesday, NBA Draft on Thursday. We’re staying at The New Yorker on Eighth Avenue. When are you coming out there?”

“I’ll be out there for the game on Tuesday. Early enough to take you to lunch.”

“Thanks, Oliver.”

“You know I take care of my clients, man. Especially the ones that are bringing in the big bucks.”

“Good to know. What did the teams say about my film?”

“I got really good feedback from all of them. Your distance shooting could use some work, but they do like the fact that you tend to drive to the basket with no fear. Your age is actually a plus, while they don’t feel like you have as much upside as the younger guys, you do have some potential, and a maturity level that’s rare with rookies. So that, like I said, is working in your favor. You’ll be fine, Derek. Just remember that the Showcase is to improve your stock. You’re going to get drafted, the better you perform, the higher you’ll go. Who knows? You may end up in Atlanta with me.”

“Or I may end up in Charlotte,” I said laughing. “But as long as I end up on a roster, I’m good. As crazy as it sounds, I would love to come back home and play for the Pelicans. Bring some glory to New Orleans. Chicago would definitely be my second choice. You know I am a huge Pippen fan. Playing with Derrick Rose? That would be crazy.”

“So you didn’t mention the Hawks.”

“Atlanta is cool, man. We’d probably make the playoffs more often than not considering that we are playing in the East. But I’m tired of the happy to be here ****, I want to get to the Finals.”

“Well, let’s get through the Draft first. I got some more work to do around here. Call me before you leave on Sunday and when you land. I will see you on Tuesday.”

“Later, O Dawg.”

############################

Two hours later, I find myself sitting in a restaurant enjoying some fajitas with my cousin Devin, who’s more like a second brother to me than my own brother. More on that later.

“I can’t believe you’re going to the NBA, man.”

“That’s what they say, Dev. You’re coming with me, man. I couldn’t have done this without you. I need somebody to keep the women at bay.”

“I’m trying to turn us into Lebron James and Maverick Carter and Paul Rich. At the same damn time.”

“I think you can do it too. You’re smart. You got that business degree from LSU while I was busting my *** at Nicholls.”

“I did that for us. Now look at you. Three years later and the thing is finally going to come in handy. Me and Ollie are gonna take care of you, man. You just gotta play ball.”

“I know.”

“What about Dax?”

I shrug my shoulders because I don’t know what to say. Dax is my twin brother. Great guy. He probably could have been a major league baseball player, but when my parents divorced when we were in high school, he got into some "other things". He’s 25 and he has three kids under the age of six by two different women. Typical. He’s still my brother and I love him though. He’s currently working at a barber shop, so I guess he’s moving in the right direction. I still don’t like the people that he hangs around.

“I want to help him out, but I can’t have him wherever I am being a distraction.”

“I get it, but I don’t want him to feel slighted that I’m going on this wild ride with you and not him.”

I nod my head. “I know. I’ll figure something out.”

[SwaaaaaG]

Great writing so far keep it up.

[beast10]

I like this so far, it's a good read!

[ChosenOne58]

Quote: Originally Posted by SwaaaaaG

Great writing so far keep it up.

Quote: Originally Posted by beast10

I like this so far, it's a good read!

Thanks guys. Update coming soon

[ChosenOne58]

My first two days in New York were a breeze. The reporters were easy enough to handle, I’d done plenty of interviews during my time in Spain. The trick was to remember not to answer the reporters in Spanish. I let it slip a couple times. It was all good though. I was finishing up a photo shoot for a sports magazine and then we were headed out to eat.

I’m having lunch at a sandwich shop on 9th avenue with Trey Burke, Nerlens Noel, and Cody Zeller. We hadn’t really gotten a chance to hang out much because, well, I didn’t know what 20 year olds were into and we were pretty busy doing media stuff. Those guys were also busy with their agents and magazines and things like that. Aside from the shoot that we all did today, I hadn’t really done much promotional stuff. Just the usual stuff for NBA.com. But I’m not worried about all that. I’ll get to that in due time.

“So you’re the dark horse, huh,” Cody asked as he sat down across from me.

“I don’t think I am. I’m chasing a dream just like you all.”

“But you’re like 25.”

“Yep. That just means I gotta move and move quickly. So while y’all are still developing, expect a championship in my first three seasons,” I said with a smirk.

“Damn. It’s like that? I like this guy,” said Nerlens. “What was Spain like?”

“Spanish,” I said, getting a laugh from the guys at the table. “Nah, it was cool. I enjoyed my time there. I won a championship last season. We lost in the last game of the finals this year though. That was tough.”

“Is it weird being like the oldest dude here, even though you aren’t really that old,” Trey asked.

“I guess you can say that. I mean, you guys aren’t that young. You guys will be drinking and partying in no time. At least you and Cody will. I mean, I did my four years of college and then three more years as a professional overseas. Mason Plumlee gets it. He did the whole four years at Duke.”

“I feel you, D,” said Trey. “But I like your style man. We watched some of your film when we were hanging out. You play aggressive, but you’re in control though.”

“Thanks.”

“I just wanna know,” said Nerlens. “What were the girls like out there?”

“In Spain? Nice. They have beautiful women out there.”

“I know you must have hooked up with a lot of girls out there.”

“Not too many. I made friends with a few of the WNBA players since I would to their games every once in a while, so I got to hang out with their teammates. I tried to keep a low profile out there. As well as you could when you’re surrounded by a bunch of women that are around six feet tall,” I said as I pulled out my phone. I flipped through to some pictures of myself with Monique Currie and her teammates.

The conversation flowed between the three of us pretty well. A few people came up to our table asking for autographs, instantly recognizing Trey, and Cody. I even signed a few. I figured people were just being polite since they knew we were all there for the NBA Draft.

######################################

The showcase wasn’t too bad. I had a solid outing and I think I may have increased my stock a little. Probably not a lottery pick, but my name will definitely be called before the end of the first round.

After the game, Oliver took me out to dinner and gave me a quick rundown of what I was to expect on tomorrow.

“You impressed a lot of teams out of there tonight. You played like a bat out of hell and left it all on the court. I like that. Everybody was trying to figure out who number 9 was. You are the dark horse, my man.”

“That seems to be the recurring theme.”

“Um, yeah, who do you think came up with that? I want to get you on a blog or at least have somebody chronicle your rookie season wherever you land. I know you’re already on all the social media sites. You don’t have as much pre-draft hype surrounding you as these other guys, especially since you’re twenty-four and you’ve been playing in Spain for the past two years. But I think it’s going to work well.”

“I trust you, Ollie. Get with Devin on all that. So what’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”

“Simple. You’re going to meet with some of the teams that are interested in drafting you and we will go from there. It’ll probably be about three or four interviews. You’re stock is moving up a bit, so now these teams wanna make sure you have your head on straight. Coming in at 25, you probably have high expectations. And I’m sure they have high expectations of you. They probably want you to make an impact early. Like sixth man, possibly moving into a starting role by all-star weekend early.”

“I can live with that. Which teams?”

############################################

It was finally time. I was sitting in the green room at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn waiting for my name to be called. I looked around the table at the people who meant the most to me: my parents, my brother, my cousin and my agent. My cell phone rang and I looked down to see that I was getting a video call from a number that I didn’t recognize. I pushed the green button on my phone and waited.

“Are you nervous?”

I smiled at the face on the screen. Carmen Calvo. She was one of my best friends overseas. She played with Monique Currie in Spain. We became fast friends after she tried to beat me in a dunk contest. She’s six foot three, so it could have happened. And I almost let it.

“Hell, yeah.”

“Don’t be. You’ll be an important piece to any team.”

“Have you talked to Alex?” Alex Abrines is a 19 year old shooting guard from Spain. He played for FC Barcelona. He’s a good kid. Has a quick game. Shoots well, runs well.

“Earlier today. He’s nervous too. You boys are silly.”

“This is my future I’m talking about, Carmen.”

“I know. I know. If you get drafted high enough, you can pay for my plane ticket to the U.S. I haven’t been there in years. Have they started yet?”

“Commissioner Stern just finished his speech. Cleveland has the first pick.”

“Okay. Well call me when it’s all over. Good luck even though you don’t need it.”

Cleveland drafted Anthony Bennett first this time around. It looks like they are really building a young competitive team this year. The countdown continued, the Bobcats took Cody Zeller with their fourth pick. I look over to Oliver and we both laugh. Nerlens was taken by the Pelicans with the sixth pick and Minnesota took Trey with the ninth pick. As he headed out to the stage, he shook my hand and said “See you on the other side, D.”

After Atlanta took two point guards with their seventeenth and eighteenth picks, I was starting to get nervous. I kept looking at Oliver’s cell phone waiting for it to ring, but nothing yet. A few minutes later Cleveland was on the clock, it was then that Oliver’s phone finally lit up. I could only hear one side of the conversation though.

“Oliver Tate….yes, he would…..sounds good……that’s great…..thank you. Good bye.”

He put his cell phone back on the table and sat back with a huge grin on his face.

“Am I about to get drafted?”

“Soon.”

This is it.

[ChosenOne58]