Jaren Jackson Jr Using 2K To Get His Timing Down Is Awesome

You may remember Jaren Jackson Jr just had a fantastic outing in which he secured 7 blocks. I blogged about it when it happened, but in case you missed it, the Grizzlies put out a great video of them all

Well coming off that performance Jaren Jackson Jr was asked about his improved timing and blocking ability and he gave an interesting answer

Let’s go! Take that baby! 2K coming in and helping real life NBA players at their craft. Love it. I feel like this is always a running joke with pro athletes and video games, about how they use them to help with their training. If JJJ is going to tell me the timing in 2K is helping him on the court, who am I to call him a liar? He’s right too, blocking in 2K is all about timing. Luring opponents into your block is a skill, and this dude must be nasty at 2K if he’s taking what he learned there and putting up 7 blocks in a real NBA game.

Really, this is a win for kids everywhere who have parents telling them to put down the sticks and go outside or something. There’s already a real career/life in the gaming world, but if that’s not enough to convince your parents to get off your nuts, now you can tell them you’re training for the NBA. Seeing as how Christmas/Hanukkah is right around the corner and maybe you’re going to be home at break, now you can get high and fire up 2K with no regrets. As these games are becoming more and more advanced and realistic, is it really all that surprising? You could tell he was 100% serious too which on the surface may make no sense but at the same time makes a ton of sense.

With so many awesome rookies this year I feel like maybe JJJ is riding under the radar, but make no mistake he’s been awesome for the Grizzlies. He’s averaging 2.2 blocks a night in 25 minutes, and has started 17 of their 19 games. He’s 5th in the NBA in blocks, and he’s doing this before he even turns 20 years old. The one area of his game I’d like to see him improve is something we saw during Summer League and that’s his three point shooting. He’s shooting 34% on 2.3 3PA a night, and something tells me if the Grizzlies just lock him in a room and have him practice his release timing in 2K, he’s going to be a 40%+ shooter in no time.

Consider this an open invitation to JJJ if he wants to throw down online one day. I too have been training for years for the NBA through 2K, I’m just waiting for my genetics to kick in.

P.S.

All this story did was remind me how bullshit it still is that you can’t carry stuff over from your myGM or Franchise Mode to each new year of 2K. I know I’ve talked about that before, but it still makes no sense to me. You can do it in other sports video games, so what’s the hold up? I’ll buy every single year if I can carry over what I spend an ungodly amount of hours building. If not, I’m prepared to play my 2K18 for the next 15 years while I build a fucking wagon. Figure it out 2K, that’s all I ask.