82-0 NBA simulation game

The Game Room
1

I’m not an NBA guy, but I am a stats and optimization guy so this dumb little game is really tickling my brain. You try to build a team of 5 players given a randomized year and randomized decade. You can reroll one attribute per run. After you fill the team they “simulate” a season, which probably is just a function that takes in your team’s aggregate stats and spits out a record.

It’s very much like a roguelike in that you’re hoping for good rolls. My best team so far:

I just went 81-1, think you can go 82-0?

Play 82-0: 82-0

Pretty annoyed that I put Durant at PF because the next round I had 90s Jazz and would have put Malone there. Rerolled the year to the 80s for Dantley which is still pretty good.

Curious what a 5x Lebron team would do.

2

That depends on whether or not it takes into consideration the intangibles such as “Load Management” (laziness), “Flopping” (punk mentality), etc.

3

Damn, this is so simple but addicting as hell. My best so far 65-17.

4

I got 72-10 a few tries ago. My first attempt was an A+ effort, but didn’t realize how good it was until later, and can’t remember the record itself.

5

I think you basically need to get Wilt on the 60’s Warriors, averaged like 41 pts and 25 rebounds.

There’s a baseball version too: https://chasinbase.com/ but obviously a ton more positions and the stats, to a non fan, are more opaque.

6

My second team reached 73-9.

7

Just reached 76-6.

8

My best is 77-5:

Wilt and David Robinson were a pretty good start in the front-court. Then Dwyane Wade (00s-Heat version) and World B. Free at the Guards. Had both re-rolls ready, and ended up with 90s-era Nick Anderson at the SF.

9

I did it! 82-0!

PG - Luka Doncic
SG - Kyrie Irving
SF - Elgin Baylor
PF - Kevin Garnett
C - Kareem

10

Truly, a magnificent time waster.

I got to 76-6 before deciding it might be more fun to go for 0-82. I just got 3-79.

11

These guys went 82-0:

PG Chris Paul LAC • 2010s

SG Marques Johnson MIL • 1970s

SF Adrian Dantley IND • 1970s

PF Larry Bird BOS • 1990s

C Wilt Chamberlain GSW • 1960s

…

60s Wilt is a huge cheat code. So is 20s Doncic. 20s Giannis has PG eligibility—I had him and 90s Michael Jordan in a backcourt with a just-OK front court go 74-8.

To my surprise, Boston’s 1960s players are terrible in this thing. Loads of rings and Hall of Fame credentials in real life — just statistically poor in an exercise like this.

12

I’ve made it to 75-7.

13

Only 67-15 with these guys? Tough crowd.

14

Wilt Chamberlain seems like a must have, i have yet to get Jordan though.

15

The NFL version of this game is also available to play. I created a thread for it:

16

Not necessarily - if you look upthread my only time going 82-0 did not have Wilt (I had Kareem instead). I didn’t have Jordan either.

I do think you probably need to have either 60s Wilt or 20s Doncic.

17

I wanted to see if I could go 0-82, but I got the 1980s Lakers and couldn’t resist putting Magic on a team with four complete scrubs. I went 19-63. Then I picked a team of five scrubs and still managed to win 4 games.

18

Garnett Lebron Kawhi Curry and Kyrie only got me 70-12

19

81-1

It’s going to be hard to beat that one.

20

Steph Curry is good, not great in this thing. Their stats completely disregard 3-point shooting, so you don’t benefit from Curry’s strongest attribute.

…

Maybe I’ve just been unlucky with the rolls, but Lebron has been a slight disappointment. If you get him early, you’re like “Oooh! James is like a top-5 guy all-time! And he’s got five-position versatility … awesome!”

So you put him at small forward, and then you roll a better SF later. Or more to the point – you roll dogmeat at SG where you could’ve used Lebron if you’d only known. Oh well – that’s part of the slot-machine aspect of this game. It is pretty fun and addictive :grinning_face:

EDIT: Now that I think about it … LeBron’s best position in this exercise is probably SG. It’s not hard to get his rebounds and 90% of his points from another forward. But his scoring is better than 95% of available shooting guards, and both his assists and rebounds are far better than almost all SGs (and the SGs that can rival James in these metrics score far less, like '80s Fat Lever). Pair James at SG with PGs like '20s Doncic or '60s Oscar Robertson, and you’re cooking with gas.