What do you do when you’re a basketball star and avid videogamer, but you can’t take your HDTV on the road with you when you travel? You get an awesome portable Xbox 360 in a suitcase, that’s what.
It’s tempting to think that the life of a NBA superstar is filled with nothing but good things like tons of money, fame, luxury, and beautiful women – and let’s be honest, for the most part it is – but there are some annoying parts, too. For example, when you’re always on the road, how do you find time to sit back at home and indulge your gaming hobby? For NBA landmark Kobe Bryant, though, he doesn’t have to be at home to game: 2K Games supplied the Lakers’ superstar with a custom 360-in-a-briefcase to take with him on the road.
“I’m like the James Bond of gaming,” Bryant told ESPN. “I bring this on the plane with me and let the guys play.” Of course, he isn’t the only one in the league playing NBA 2K10 on his sweet portable 360; 2K gave the devices to plenty of big-name NBA gamers like Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings, Josh Smith, Chris Paul and Tyreke Evans.
Naturally, the athletes have their own opinions about how they compare to their in-game selves. The Chicago Bulls’ Rose thinks his NBA 2K self could use a buff: “My jump shot is wack in that game. I need to talk to someone about that,” he complained, saying that his team in the game was the Denver Nuggets. On the other hand, Kobe Bryant’s teammate Shannon Brown thinks it’s the opposite way around: “I think they made me too good in the game,” he laughed. “I’m better in the video game than I am in real life.”
The Boston Celtics’ Nate Robinson may be the league’s most ardent gamer, boasting an impressive level 10 Prestige (along with his squad) in Modern Warfare 2. “As you can tell, I loving[sic] gaming,” said Robinson, who also says he plays NHL 10 and Madden 10. “I think it’s a great way to keep kids off the street and off drugs. Video games are almost like a drug themselves. I play them all the time.”
The entire ESPN piece covers just how widespread gaming is in the NBA, and it’s well worth a read just to learn that the Bulls’ Taj Gibson has TVs and consoles in multiple rooms of his house just so he can play head-to-head against his friends when they come over. It just goes to show that in some ways, the lifestyles of the rich and famous aren’t that different from yours and mine these days.
(Via D’toid)
