Monday Tip-Off: The Curious Journey of Terry Hanson (So Far)

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with a look at the curious journey of Terry Hanson so far in my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER.

There are many reasons why I remain hooked on NBA 2K14 MyCAREER into my sixth season and counting. First and foremost, I love the on-court experience, so it’s fun keeping the game in my rotation. Second, it’s been satisfying to see my career stats accumulate, motivating me to shoot for all-time records as I assemble a truly Hall of Fame resume. And then, there’s Terry Hanson, the generated rookie that came along in my third season and soon became a Virtual Hardwood Legend. At this point, I’m as invested in his career as much as my own!

So far, it’s been a curious journey for Terry Hanson. Generated players invite us to use our imagination, which usually involves comparisons to real NBA players. With that in mind, Terry Hanson is a crafty scorer with modest defensive numbers; kind of like Mark Aguirre, only a far superior athlete, and a better and more prolific three-point shooter. To that point though, it’d be more accurate to compare aspects of his game to multiple players. The same goes for his career path, which has certainly had a few unusual twists and turns. As such, I’m trying – and indeed, struggling – to name a single player whose career closely resembles the curious journey of Terry Hanson.

Now, the journey of my NBA 2K14 MyPLAYER is also a mixture of different NBA players throughout history. However, while my player may be a mash-up of the skills and accomplishments of a handful of all-time greats, his journey is basically that of a generational talent who made a mark on the league as a rookie, and quickly became one of the league’s biggest stars. Broadly speaking, it’s the journey of the names we often cite as being among the players of all-time. Conversely, while Terry Hanson has had a comparatively less incredible and more realistic journey, it’s tough to name a real life analogue that matches the curious and in some ways contradictory criteria.

Let’s break it down. Top Floor Terry was a highly-touted prospect that somehow fell to the 30th pick in the 2015 Draft, allowing the Philadelphia 76ers – the defending champs – to snag him. Thanks to the abrupt departure of veteran Jason Richardson, the promising swingman was thrust into the starting lineup at shooting guard, as Carmelo Anthony had the three spot locked up. After a shaky start, he proved to be an effective scorer on the wing, and a valuable contributor as we won our third straight title. In his second season, he averaged 30 ppg and made the All-Star team before badly injuring his ankle in the first game of the 2017 Playoffs, missing the rest of the run to a ring.

Hanson’s opportunity as a second year player was in large part due to Melo missing most of the season recovering from a serious knee injury. He remained a starter even after Melo returned, but was eventually displaced by Michael Carter-Williams, who was returning from a knee injury of his own. Relegated to the bench for the first time in his NBA career, Hanson tore his MCL twelve games into the 2018 campaign, and once again collected a ring while sidelined. Now in his fourth season, he’s been in and out of the starting lineup as Melo and MCW have missed time with injuries, but still ranks second on the team in scoring thanks to some big nights (and assists from me).

So, to summarise, he’s a late first round pick that got to start on a championship team right away, exploded to become a 30 ppg scorer in his second year but was sidelined for the championship run, got moved to the bench in his third year and then suffered a season-ending injury while still winning a third ring, and is now basically a sixth man and occasional starter in his fourth year, on a team that’s vying for its sixth title in a row. There are various real life comparisons that we can draw to specific events in the curious journey of Terry Hanson so far, but is there a player whose career followed a similar path in all respects? Even fudging some of the details, it’s tough to name one!

The logical place to start is with his entry into the NBA. Once again, he was taken 30th overall in 2015, so at the very least we need to nominate a late first round pick. Some great players have slipped that low, though many of them came off the bench for most or all of their rookie seasons. Finding a player drafted 20th or lower that played and started all 82 games as a rookie proved to be impossible. However, Tony Parker, Latrell Sprewell, and Michael Finley all come close. John Drew’s rookie year predates starts being officially tracked, though box scores do record that he regularly started in his first season too. That gives us a few names to work with out of the gate.

Despite playing in all 82 games as a rookie, Finley was injured right before the 1996 Playoffs began, delaying his postseason debut until his sixth season. Sprewell made the Playoffs and the All-Star team in his second season, but his lone NBA Finals trip five years later in 1999 didn’t yield a ring. Parker made the Playoffs as a rookie and won three titles in the span of five years, but he wasn’t a big scorer. Drew was an All-Star as a sophomore and developed into a scoring threat for the Hawks, but the team wasn’t a title contender. As you can see, between them those players have a few things in common with Hanson, but his virtual career doesn’t directly parallel any of theirs.

Therefore, we need to look at the rest of the criteria, and try to work backwards for a close enough match. The toughest comparison is the championships. James Worthy’s rings and Finals appearances are reminiscent of Hanson landing on a contender, and he even missed an entire postseason, but he was also the #1 pick and only started once in his rookie year. Bob McAdoo won a couple of rings with those same Lakers teams, coming off the bench after being a 30 ppg scorer. Mac also went from scoring around 18 ppg while starting as a rookie to averaging 30 in his second season. Of course, he was also the #2 pick and a five-time All-Star prior to becoming Kareem’s backup.

Once again, you can draw some parallels here and there, but it’s tough to find an exact match. Mark Aguirre, the player that I loosely compared Terry Hanson to statistically, started 20 out of 51 games in his rookie season, increased his scoring average from 18.7 to 24.4 and then to 29.5, and later won two championships as the third or fourth banana on the Bad Boy Pistons. As before, there’s some familiarity there, but it’s not a spot-on comparison. David Thompson started all 82 games in his first NBA season – he’d debuted in the ABA the year before – and was a high-flying scorer who finished his second season with the #2 points per game average, but the similarities end there.

At this point, it should be clear how unique Terry Hanson’s career path has been: landing on a contender and winning rings immediately, becoming a sensation in his second season, and then having his career derailed by injuries and weird coaching decisions, while still putting up numbers when he has the chance. There’s no single player whose path that resembles. Like Tony Parker, he was trusted to be a starter on a contending team. Like Bob McAdoo, he went from having a modest scoring average as a rookie to being a 30 ppg scorer. Like James Worthy and Michael Finley, Hanson has missed a couple of postseasons due to injuries, and has also won championships.

And then, there are other parallels. Terry Hanson’s early virtual hardwood career has yielded more rings than Jimmy Butler has won in real life to date, but Butler is a huge success story at the 30th pick. In fact, he’s the all-time leading scorer among players drafted at that spot! Like Tom Sanders, Hanson had the good fortune to be selected by the reigning champions with the final pick of the first round, and become a key player in a dynasty. If Hanson returns to the starting five – and hopefully, he does – there will be some similarities to Bernard King, a tremendous scorer whose career was halted by injuries before he bounced back as a sixth man, and then became an All-Star again.

Of course, while it would be a fun coincidence if Terry Hanson’s fictional career was reminiscent of a specific player, I appreciate how unique it’s turning out to be. Once again, what makes generated rookies so enjoyable in franchise and career modes is the ability to imagine back stories and characters for them, and see them weave their own tales as they become Virtual Hardwood Legends. Obviously, the curious journey of Terry Hanson does bear some similarities to a handful of real players, and it’s that combination of parallels with the overarching story of my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER that makes him such an integral and entertaining part of the experience six years in.

Mind you, finding the story and looking for real life comparisons is also a way for me to contend with the frustration of Top Floor Terry being on the bench. There are many things that I enjoy about NBA 2K14 MyCAREER, but the rotation logic, and the lack of an ability to influence lineups – something that was added in later games – does bug me. Even as a bench player, Hanson should be getting at least 24-30 mpg as a sixth man, but he’s only assigned 12 mpg as the bench’s minutes are spread too evenly. He’s also the seventh player in the rotation for no good reason. Making it part of the story is me doing my best to have fun with it, while also hoping Melo or MCW move on!

Hopefully, come Year 7, he’ll have an opportunity to start regularly and play more minutes without someone needing to be injured. Until then, it will continue to be a curious and somewhat frustrating journey for Terry Hanson, though it does give the story a subplot. Speaking of which, the discovery of a player called Hanson in the old NES game Roundball: 2 on 2 Challenge has provided some new lore; specifically that Top Floor Terry is a second generation player! Call it silly and taking my gaming too seriously if you will, but a combination of user influence, outcomes that are beyond our control, and imagination, are what make franchise and career modes a fun ride.

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