"I'll be honest, I'm not a great 'player'," Union Los Angeles owner Chris Gibbs told me via email. "Never been." But when the old NBA 2K video game franchise reached out to Gibbs and offered to bring it into the game along with his clothes and sneakers, he knew he couldn't miss the opportunity.
For starters, there's the fact that NBA players these days spend as much time perfecting their outfits as they do with their jerseys. The ability to convert an audience from gamers to union buyers is another welcome side benefit. But most critical to Gibbs: "I think selfishly I was very excited about the possibility that my kids and I would share this experience and I, maybe we could dive into one of those fools !!!"
Gibbs' chance of falling into one of these fools is new, but not exactly new. This is the second year NBA 2K has gone to great lengths to include people from the fashion world in its games. Last year Don C and Fear of God designer Jerry Lorenzo were guinea pigs.
The latter's collaborative Nike sneakers, which are hugely popular in real life, were launched simultaneously in real life and the game world, where customers could spend virtual dollars (and avoid real sneaker bots) to outfit your created players.
This year, 2K is bringing more than 20 designers into its virtual world. That may sound strange until you remember the state of basketball in 2019. Making an NBA game without a fashion designer is like building an aquarium with no water.
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