2 seasons, 2 best records. Blazer5 Gaming is the king of the NBA 2K League regular season, setting the bar for what it means to be an elite team while maintaining excellence across a full season. However, along with another great regular season came another playoff disappointment in Season 2. A 2nd straight year with a 1st round playoff exit left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth coming out of Season 2. Mama Im Dat Man comes into Season 2 as the reigning MVP, but we all know he wants more. With a new coach and a couple of new veterans in hand, this could be the season Blazer5 gets over the hump.

Coach: Andrew “Sceeezus” Maxie

A former D1 and international basketball player, Sceeezus is bringing everything to the table that Blazer5 needs in a coach. He’ll provide the extra set of eyes and  basketball IQ they were clearly missing in big situations last year and will help the team improve their preparation for tournament/playoff matchups. As a former PG himself, he and Mama should get along just fine. His understanding of how to run a team both on the court and off will be a huge help to a team that showed they could get in their heads too much over the course of a season.

Season 2 Team MVP: Mama Im Dat Man

It’s hard to put into words just how dominant Mama was last season, but we’ll try. He led all point guards in points per game, made 3s, True Shooting %, and just about every single advanced stat available in terms of offensive production. His MVP was well deserved and his pick-and-roll combo with OneWildWalnut remains the best in the league, something we should see continue into this season. The real question for Mama is how he can outdo himself. His team wasn’t great in tournaments and in the playoffs, but he still put up some stellar numbers. Hopefully, bringing in a coach and taking some of the pressure off his shoulders will give him that extra gear late in the season he hasn’t had in Season 1 or 2.

Best Stat From Season 2: Forced Turnovers Per Game

We can talk about the Blazer5 offense until we are blue in the face, but their defense is just as impressive. They forced a league-leading 13.3 turnovers per game, a mind-blowing 213 total turnovers for the season! It’s a huge reason why they also led the league in point differential at 173 points, 50 points more than the 2nd place team (76ers GC).

Offseason Moves:

Trades Made:

1. Heat Check Gaming
   1. Acquired: MaJes7ic
   2. Traded Away: 2020 1st Round pick
2. CLTX Gaming
   1. Acquired: 2020 4th + 2021 3rd Round pick
   2. Traded Away: 2020 4th + 2021 4th Round pick

Draft Picks:

40. Hood
66. OOC SLIM

Many people will look at this Blazer5 team and laud them for the immense amount of shooting talent they are bringing in this season in Hood, MaJes7ic, and OOC Slim. Dig a little deeper and you realize that these moves were more about chemistry than anything else. There might not be anyone in the league that Mama Im Dat Man has spent more time playing 2K pro-am with than MaJes7ic and the trio of Mama, Walnut, and Hood have been close friends for a long time. Adding talent is great, but this team already had a ton of that. They needed to create a better environment to sustain them through a full season and on paper, they may not have been able to do better. The team will lament the loss of Jomar to Pacers Gaming, but it’s not a make-or-break loss.

Projected Lineup:

PG: Mama Im Dat Man
SG: Hood
SF: LavishPhenom
PF: MaJes7ic
C:  OneWildWalnut
6th man: OOCSlim

Is anybody else laughing out of pure terror? This lineup is absolutely stacked. Mama and Walnut are locked in at PG and center, but don’t be surprised if they do some fun things at the sharp, lock and PF spots this season. LavishPhenom played PF all offseason and MaJes7ic can play any position at a high level. Hood played some PG last season for Heat Check Gaming and while he won’t do that this season, they may break out a dual-ballhandler offense just to keep opposing defenses on their toes. The pick-and-roll will still be their go-to gameplan, but they now have the ability to do so much more.

Season 3 Breakout Candidate: Hood

Now on his 4th team in 3 seasons, Hood hasn’t lived up to the enormous potential placed on him before Season 1. However, this team is unlike anything he has played on. He’s now on the team he claimed he always wanted to play with and his chemistry with Mama and Walnut is undeniable. If there was any team that could get the most out of Hood, it’s Blazer5. Run for the hills if they figure it out.

Best Case Scenario: Best 2K Team Ever Assembled

It’s not great to rely on huge superlatives when describing a team, but it’s hard not to see that potential when looking at B5. If Hood and MaJes7ic settle into their roles and perform up to their talent level, it’s difficult to see how teams can stop them consistently. They’ve already proved they know how to win in the regular season and with a perfect hire at coach, plus the two new guys? This could go down in history as the best 2K team ever assembled, no joke. However, potential is potential and we’ve got 4 full months to find out if they can live up to it.

Worst Case Scenario: Blow it up?

With great talent comes great potential. With great potential comes an equally scary expectations. What does Blazer5 Gaming do if they fail to get past the 1st round of tournaments and the playoffs again? Three straight seasons of disappointment can eat away at any team.

Most Likely Scenario:

This team is stacked on paper, but the pressure is on this season. How will they handle having a real coach? How will the 3 new guys fit into an already-strong core? Can they get over the tournament hump and will they win their 1st playoff game? The easy guess is to say yes and say a Final Four is in their future, but this team, more than maybe any other team in the league, needs to prove it on the court.