Well boys, the time has come to bring this thread to a close. I finished out my series, falling to the Lakers in six games. It was especially frustrating because after going down 3-1 and winning Game 5, I had a fifteen point lead on them at the half of Game 6. I had visions dancing in my head of a second 3-1 comeback against LeBron's Lakers, which would have been humiliating for my hated rivals.
But my game crashed as soon as the 3rd quarter started.
When I restarted the game, I just couldn't get shots to fall, and I wound up going down by as many as 15 before a late rally fell just short and I lost 104-97.
In the rest of the playoffs, Milwaukee beat the Knicks in the first round, the Celtics in the second, and advanced to their second-straight Finals by beating the Timberwolves. Minnesota fell in the Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row, this time in the East.
In the West, the Pelicans and RJ Barrett blitzed the Rockets in the first round, beat the Lakers in the second, and outlasted the Suns in the WCF to make their first-ever Finals. They captured the championship in a six game series against Milwaukee. Giannis, Oladipo and Middleton played well, but the Pels had an incredibly balanced attack with Barrett, Jayson Tatum, Kyle Lowry and Nasir Little.
I advanced to the offseason, and then I made a mistake. I rushed through the league realignment task before realizing that for some reason, the game re-aligned the divisions. Minnesota was sent BACK to the West, and the newly-crowned Pelicans moved to the East. Not to mention all the divisions were changed. I was operating without a backup file, which was a mistake. And I couldn't go back and change it.
With that being done, I felt like it was time for me to move on from 2K19, for a few different reasons.
1. After playing two full seasons and spending over 1,200 hours in the game (according to Steam), the commentary had worn a hole in my brain. I had to shut it off the last 50 games or so, I couldn't take hearing the same stuff anymore.
2. There are just a ton of “quality of life” improvements that have been added in the last 2 years like new freelances, improved AI, a better shot meter, etc.
3. I need new music. I would give either of my kids for a night with Cardi B but I can't listen to her rap on that Bruno Mars song ONE MORE TIME
4. The jerseys that I created for them two years ago, are actually in the game now! I can just use the real ones instead of the low-res ones I made
5. Last but not least – the Spurs have added a few players over past couple seasons that I really like, and I was tired of playing with the create-a-player versions of Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Luka Samanic. Dejounte wears New Balance now, which aren't even IN 2k19. Lonnie cut his hair.
So all that being said, I'm going to take a little time to learn how to play 2K21, and then come back soon with a new franchise thread. Of course I'm still going to use my Spurs.
Thanks to everyone who followed along through the past 2+ years, I had a blast. I'll look for you guys when I start a new journey for the Silver and Black.
Until we meet again: