I've heard all kinds of stories about athletes entering "the zone," that mysterious state in which they play at a whole other level. Quarterbacks complete 20 passes in a row, a baseball hitter might mash three home runs, or in this case an NBA player might gash the opposition for 46 points. But this is the first time I've heard of NBA 2K being the reason.
Donovan Mitchell tore the Philadephia 76'ers defense apart for the aforementioned 46 points, and afterwards told CBS Sports an online NBA 2K session gave him extra motivation.
"This kid pissed me off today, I was playing 2K. I had been playing 2K for like two hours, and I told him, too, I said ‘Just wait.’ Mitchell said.
He called me ‘Washed up,’ he called me a bunch of things. But I love it. He said he hadn’t seen a highlight from me in a minute. I just told him, ‘Alright, we’ll see.’ He told me to ‘go to sleep.’ He was going in. So this game was for that kid or grown man or whoever that was. So I appreciate you. I told him I’d give him a shoutout, too. So that’s what tonight was…"
The next team with Cleveland on the schedule may pay somebody to cut Mitchell's Internet. I haven't ever had the opportunity to play a real pro basketball player in NBA 2K, I can't imagine how epic that would be. I would happily take my loss and the learning that came with it.