In sports, momentum is often just as important as raw skill. Just ask the Warriors Gaming Squad. By halfway through Season 2, WGS was a dominant force, capturing not one but two season tournament championship banners and rolling out a well-balanced scoring attack week after week. After earning an early playoff berth with a win at THE TICKET in Orlando, it seemed as if all the momentum was on their side heading into the final month of the regular season. Until it wasn’t. 

The Warriors endured an 0-5 skid to close out the regular season as the 8th seed in the Playoffs. They defeated Blazer5 Gaming in a spirited opening series, but ultimately dropped their semifinals matchup to the eventual champions, T-Wolves Gaming. A successful year was cut short after diminished returns after Orlando. 

As they prep for Season 3, the Warriors are now armed with lessons all winning teams must master: The art of “keeping the foot on the gas.” That mindset, combined with their on-the-court skills and off-the-court chemistry, look to make WSG a potential contender right from the tip next season. 

Question: Let’s get your thoughts on your Season 2 as a whole. How did you feel about enjoying the level of success you had and making the postseason? 

Jin: As a whole, it was a strong season. We felt like we were one of the most powerful teams throughout the season. We thought we were one of the best, talent-wise, skill-wise, chemistry-wise. The two championship banners were pretty cool. They were a good bonus to have. But at the end, we wanted to have the whole thing. We wanted that championship. 

Bsmoove: We came out and won two tournaments last year. I know we wanted a championship, but I’d say we still did a good job. Nobody’s ever won two tournaments before. You can’t predict the future, but it was a good statement for us knowing that we’re a powerhouse in the coming years. I think we had a great season. 

CB13: Season 2 was a solid success for us. With three new players on the team, none of us really knew each other before. We picked it up mid-season and finished with one of the better runs, Top 4. The banners were cool as Jin said. At the end of the day, we definitely wanted to win the championship, but finishing behind the T-Wolves and the 76ers isn’t something to be too disappointed about. It came down to a team having a great run at the very end of the season, and the T-Wolves ended up beating us. You can’t be too mad. 

Q: In terms of the Warriors securing a postseason berth during THE TICKET and then having to show up and play multiple regular season games to finish out the regular season, did you guys encounter difficulty staying focused during that final stretch as you waited for the playoffs to tip? 

Jin: It’s just human nature. When something is guaranteed, you normally don’t work as hard for it. I feel like it was a little detrimental in that aspect, where we didn’t go 100% as we always did (before THE TICKET). We felt a little more relaxed even though we were still grinding every day. But it was still a little detrimental (securing a berth early). 

Bsmoove: I think what was difficult was that bye week for us, which kind of turned into a three week bye week. A lot of us went home for a week, and I wouldn’t say it took our minds off 2K, but we kind of lost our focus a bit. In those late season games, we weren’t as locked in as we could have been because we knew we had a postseason spot. We still believed we could beat any team though, we just weren’t fully locked in. 

CB13: There’s a lot of talent in this League. We ended up playing teams like the T-Wolves and the Celtics and the Grizzlies, teams who needed to win those late-season games to get into the Playoffs. Naturally, if you’re already in, and these teams, who are very skilled, are fighting for their playoff lives versus us, who at that time had just won two-straight tournaments and thinking no team in the league could really mess with us… it didn’t matter if we were the 1 or 8 seed, we felt like we could win no matter what. Those games didn’t really matter, and we faced teams who really, really wanted it. They ended up beating us, which is what it came down to. 

Q: With the primary core of the team coming back next season after being retained, do you three look at that late-season stretch as a huge learning experience that you can be prepared for next season? 

Bsmoove: Yeah for this season, we’ll be 100% locked in. We know now that we can’t really slack off, which we know then but we weren’t fully able to avoid. This year, it’s different. We know what mistakes we made, we know what adjustments we’ll need to make. And no slacking off. 

CB13: I agree with Alex. Like Jin and I said, we felt like we were the best team last year and all we needed to do was put it together. It’s hard when you win two events in a row. It’s kind of unprecedented and you’re winning a decent amount, it’s like, we’re really onto something here and maybe we don’t have to do as much in your day-to-day. That’s definitely a big learning experience for Season 3. Season 2, in all honesty, felt like it was ours to take and we took our foot off the gas and let other teams catch up to us. Our theme this season will be to come in every day, practice hard, watch film, 100% through the whole season and keep the foot on the gas. We realized the team that won it all was the team that was the hottest at the end of the year. That’s really when you want to be at your best. 

Jin: We knew, even during THE TICKET tournament, that we were beating teams by small, sometimes 1-point margins. We had close games every single game in that tournament, as opposed to THE TURN tournament, where we were winning by a good amount. We knew there was already some regression amongst us, and other teams were getting slightly better as the season progressed. It wasn’t until it was too late, after the playoffs, where we felt the consequences and we had to live with that experience, living with the idea that we could have performed better. 

Q: CB13, what are you looking to improve on with your game next season? 

CB13: I definitely want to see my assists go up, that’s the main thing. When you play with guys like Jin and Bsmoove who are really good with putting the ball in the hoop and Gradient who is one of the better scorers at lock, the thing for me is to not step on any toes and put them in the best position to succeed. I think building on Season 2 will be more to continue facilitating my teammates so they’re more involved. I’ve never been somebody who really cared about shooting18 times and averaging 25 points a game. I’m more of a guy who looks out for his teammates to get them involved and win like that. I think that’s one of the reasons why we were one of the better teams this season. All of us averaged over 8 PPG and kept the defense on their toes. Some games, Jin would lead the team in scoring at the power forward, some games Type would score. Bsmoove would lead the team in scoring more times than anyone else. I think our balanced attack is something we’ll continue to run with in Season 3. 

Q: Jin, after spending Season 1 with the Wizards and then being drafted by the Warriors in Season 2, did you feel like you lived up to your own standard with your performance last season? 

Jin: I think I definitely lived up to my expectations. I knew we had a strong nucleus when I was drafted into the Warriors. CB13 and Gradient were both top 10 picks. We also had an up-and-coming center in Type and we had Bsmoove who was one of the best scorers in the League. I knew coming in that my role would be a little limited compared to what it was with the Wizards. I knew I wouldn’t get as many touches. It was about me doing the little things to make sure our team won. I think I exceeded expectations there. 

Q: Bsmoove, you were an outstanding shooter in Season 2. Where do you go from here? How do you top winning a tournament MVP next year? 

Bsmoove: I don’t care much about my personal stats. It was better for our team that I took a step back in the middle of the year and everyone else got more involved. To top it off, I just have to stay consistent. That’s what I’m worried about. The first season was a little different, with a different setting and different game. This next season I’m gonna try being who I am and being consistent with it. 

Q: You guys tipped off the Season 2 Playoffs, and the atmosphere was electric. CB13, your family showed up and the studio was fire. Can you guys talk a bit about how playing in that environment was for you on the stage? 

CB13: It was a lot of fun having my family and friends show up. I was telling Rustin that week to get all the merch ready, I think I’ll have 30 odd people show up. He was like, there’s no way you’re bringing that many people (laughs). It was really cool to see them all show up to tailgate. Luckily the studio was in an area where they could do that. They all told me how much fun they had and they’ll be back for next playoffs, too. We were the 8 seed and knocked off the 1 seed in pretty dominating fashion. Our crowd behind us really helped a lot. We went up that first game to 35-9, I think? It was blistering, our crowd was going crazy. It felt like it was 5 Blazers versus about 40 Warriors. It was definitely a big help. 

Bsmoove: We had a few people out too from the Pro Am community, and that was the most fun game of 2K I’ve ever played. That whole series (vs. Blazer5 Gaming), that big a crowd for a 2K game was crazy. It was like a real-life basketball game. That atmosphere was so much different than what I’ve experienced in a video game before. It was exciting. It was awesome. 

Jin: The playoff games against Blazer5 were the most lit games of 2K I’ve ever played. LavishPhenom at one point started trash talking to the crowd instead of us. It was really cool to see that. After every play we made, the crowd would get hype and would start getting into Lavish’s head (laughs). 

Q: What will you miss most about what Coach Tommy brought to the table? 

CB13: Tommy became, I think, the best coach in the League by the end of the season. He really listened to his players. His breakdowns before games will be definitely missed. Tommy would watch every game for the teams we would play that week and he would prepare a 5-minute video for us to break down what plays they’d run, what their tendencies would be, how many 3’s they’d shoot. Keys to the game like that. Things like that to get our mental game up to speed will definitely be missed. On the fly, we’ll miss the real life applications of time outs. During the playoffs versus Blazer 5 Gaming, he was keeping us grounded. We started off really hot and the Blazers kept chipping away. Tommy kept calling well-placed timeouts to keep us settled. He had a great relationship with all of us. We’ll definitely miss him. 

Jin: Tommy brought the sense of being a really good coach off the court. He made sure each of us was in a good mindset, that there were no problems. He tried his best to make sure we were locked in at all times, to make sure we were always set on the main goal. It was underrated, in my opinion. You can’t always see that from the outside looking in. 

Bsmoove: I’ve been with Tommy for two years. When he came in, it was different because he really didn’t want to coach at the time, but when we won that first game against the Celtics, we knew from then that he was the guy for us. That wasn’t just for the year, but for going forward, we could tell. He was easy-going, not overly-controlling, he was a players coach. He always had the perfect schemes written up, which made sense cuz he’s a film coordinator for the Warriors G League team. His is one-of-a-kind and will be missed. 

Q: What skills are you guys grinding out this offseason to get better at heading into Season 3? 

Jin: Personally, I’ve always prided myself on my versatility, whether it’s playing the 1 or the 5. I want to make sure that I have a deep understanding of what I’m playing, so I’ve been touching up on a little of everything. I’m specifically trying to improve on my defense on the pick and roll. It wasn’t something I worked too much on last offseason. 

Bsmoove: I’m working on scoring. It’s nothing I haven’t done before, but like last year, I’m trying to get better at a little of everything: Passing, scoring, every aspect of the game. 

CB13: For me, I’m working on being aggressive. Whenever I get the ball, I’m looking to score first and not pass first. I think last year, I came in to facilitate other people and not really look for my own shot, which is good but at the end of the day you just need to go and put the ball in the hoop. Rustin and I set this goal where I need to shoot at least 10-15 times a game, to get better at creating my own shot. If a team needs to worry about me shooting 10-15 times a night, that’ll open things up for the other guys on the team. 

Q: What’s your general thought on all the player movement and trades we’ve seen this offseason? Is it a good look for the team? 

Jin: It definitely brings a source of entertainment and excitement to the League. In the real NBA, there were offseason moves that may have been more exciting than certain points of the actual season. The trades and retainment help create more exposure for the League and I think it’s good. 

Q: Watching the esports industry in general take off, does it ever floor you that you get to actively participate in a now-international esports league? 

Bsmoove: I don’t know what the future holds yet, but I do feel honored to be a part of an esports league, being an esports pro. It is up and coming. It is growing. You see Ninja’s shoe just come out. It’s cool to see how big it’s all growing. You recently hear the news about Devin Booker saying he wants the Suns to be a part of the NBA 2K League, so it’s cool to be a part of this cool new thing, and to entertain the people who watch us. 

CB13: I’m not 100% certain like many of us what we’ll be doing five years from now, but it’s definitely a humbling experience to be a part of the hundred-plus players who get to compete in this League. We just recently had the London event in December, which is really cool. We’re in the League as players, but we’re also fans. We’re fans of League expansion overseas. It’s humbling. I’m excited to see where it all goes from here. 

Jin: I’ll never take this League for granted, especially how it’s getting progressively harder to get into the League now that more players are eligible, and the gaining interest. You guys at the League are working tirelessly to expand the project globally. 

Q: When it’s all said and done, what will constitute a successful third season for you all? 

Jin: I’ll define Season 3 as a success if at the end of the playoffs, Warriors Gaming Squad is the one holding up the championship banner and trophy. For me personally, I don’t care about any of the personal accolades and individual stats. At the end of the day, the team’s success is the most important thing to me. 

Bsmoove: I would like a championship. Everyone wants a championship. Realistically speaking, I just want to build off last year and be better. I want to make it to the next level, to the next round of playoffs, win or lose. As long as we make it further than we did last year, and possibly repeat those two tournament banners. That would be good, too. 

CB13: I agree with both of them. I think building on what we did last year is definitely the goal. I’m with Jin though. I feel like last year, we knew what we were capable of, and it sucks that we couldn’t finish it out. It was definitely a learning experience for us though and we’re going to take those tools with being the best team on the sticks and keeping that mentality for a whole season, I think you’ll see really good things from us this year. Success for us this year ends with us holding a championship. We’ve already got two banners, the first team to ever do that, so it’s time to take that next step and be the hot team at the right time.