How Sweet the Sound - The Story of David "Amazing" Grace (2K23 MyCareer)

[chosenone58]

That's my boy

[chosenone58]

[chosenone58]

2024 Free Agency - September

[chosenone58]

[chosenone58]

All the King's Men

Everyone waited with baited breath to see what would happen with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.

Would LeBron retire?

Would Bronny become a Laker?

The answers were no and yes.

Los Angeles didn’t have any draft picks this year, so once they traded away Dennis Schroeder to Philadelphia for an early second round pick, everyone assumed it was for the younger James. And once the 34th pick of the NBA draft was selected, it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that the elder James would stick around for at least one more season. James signed a two-year deal with Lakers this summer. So, while many fans were preparing for life without James, his reign will continue over the NBA.
There was a lot of speculation over what Los Angeles would have to give up or how high he would be drafted. After a less than stellar season at USC, where many thought he should have stayed for at least one more season after averaging 8 points and 5 assists per game, James decided to forgo the transfer portal and enter his name in the 2024 NBA Draft.

“I don't know if people really understand Bronny," James told ESPN as part of a wide-ranging interview after USA Basketball practice Sunday in preparation for the Paris Olympics. "He doesn't care. I actually care a little bit. When I came in [as a rookie], I wanted people to like me, and some of the things that people were saying about me kind of bothered me early on in my career.... He doesn't give a f--k.

"He does not care about nobody. He doesn't even listen to that stuff. He's like the coolest. He's like the complete opposite of his dad. His dad will say something [to address the critics]. Bro does not care. ... Everything that's being said about him, he really does not care."
LeBron James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer who has amassed a net worth north of $1 billion over the course of his 21-year playing career, said his 19-year-old son has not let all that success affect who he is as a person.

"Just imagine if you were a kid, you were born into a situation where your dad was super famous, super wealthy and you the kid still had the drive to want to be able to accomplish things for yourself," James, 39, said. "I personally don't know if I would've been able to do that if the roles were reversed.”

The younger James did impress in the NBA Summer League averaging over 17 points and 8 assists in the tournament. Footage of his father proudly streaming the games on his phone circulated on social media.

“I’m glad he performed well and just kind of did his thing and let the game to him. I think that he can continue to od that this season. His position is a lot different from when I entered the league 21 years ago. He can grow and develop at his own pace. Nobody is expecting him to takeover and resurrect this franchise.”

Bronny can grow into his own as Los Angeles is currently preparing their next star in reigning MVP, David Grace. Los Angeles declined the player option on their heir apparent, but after making a qualifying offer, signed him to a 4-year deal worth almost $215M.

“We can’t do this without him,” said James. “It’s no big secret. He has to be here in order for this thing to work.”

Coming in as a second round pick in 2022, Grace has started in 145 regular season games for Los Angeles in his first two seasons. He’s a two-time NBA All-Star, and he was also named Finals MVP this season after averaging 30.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game in the five game series against Boston.

Grace also spent the summer in Paris, winning Olympic gold beside James and Anthony Davis.

“Hanging out with all the guys was great. KD, Curry, Ant, Jayson, DBook. But I think that experience actually brought us closer together as teammates,” said Grace. “It’s going to be good to see how that carries over into the season.”

Speaking of Anthony Davis, Los Angeles signed the Defensive Player of the Year to a 3 year extension before the All-Star break. Davis averaged a double-double of 16.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game this season. He competed in all 82 games for the Lakers, a first in his 13 year career.

With Dennis Schroeder in Philadelphia, this means that Marcus Sasser has the opportunity to be promoted to starting point guard this season. Sasser is coming off a solid rookie campaign for Los Angeles, where he averaged 9 points and 2.5 assists per game in a somewhat crowded back court. His performance was solid enough to earn him Second Team All-Rookie honors. He had a season high 33 points in a win against the Trail Blazers back in March, bested only by James, who scored 34. Sasser was the starting guard for the University Houston, where he played alongside David Grace and helped lead the Cougars to three NCAA tournament appearances.

“I’m just excited for the opportunity to keep doing what I love,” said Sasser. “I’m playing alongside LeBron and AD. Having John Wall and Derrick Rose as mentors has been great. I really looked up to those guys coming up. I got my guy DG. Just being able to be in this situation and contribute means a lot.”

Sasser was able to breathe easy as James only had one more item to check off on his wish list: Buddy Hield. The Lakers had tried and failed multiple times to get a trade for Hield since 2021. And they were finally able to make a deal during free agency, signing Hield to a three year deal worth $30M. Hield brings in another option from deep with a career average of over 40% from beyond the arc. Buddy was traded to Denver from Indiana during the 2022-23 season. In his one full season in Denver, he came off the bench, averaging 10.7 points, 3.3rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game. Although he appeared in all 82 games for the Nuggets, he only started in three.

Los Angeles is looking to stretch the floor more with Hield, Grace, and two shooting bigs in Anthony Davis and Adin Durmanenko. Durmanenko was brought up from the G-League last season and appeared in 47 games for Los Angeles.

Despite having a few new pieces to work in, the Lakers look ready to take on any opposition and defend their title again this year. All eyes will be on James as these moves were made to put him in the best possible position to retire as a Laker.

[Agent]

Chosen on a generational run right now

[Soapy]

feels like Bron should have retired tbh

#OneFinalRun though

[chosenone58]

Chosen on a generational run right now

Let's see how the kid does.

feels like Bron should have retired tbh

#OneFinalRun though

On that we can agree. I had the passing of the torch storyline all queued up and ready, but 2K doing 2K things....

[djp73]

Bron back? run it back.

[The JZA]

Playing with both generations of the James family, the King & Prince must be honored to be in LeGrace's shadow