NBA Scouts Choose Talent The Same Way We Pass Time—By Playing Video Games

Sometimes things should stay simple. For example, as awesome as the new generation of sports video games are, they lack the fun of their predecessors of the 8-bit genre. Sure, it’s awesome to see Kobe dunk is millions of digitized pixels, but what about the easygoing fun of Tecmo Super Bowl or RBI Baseball. With the new gen games, it’s become so realistic that it’s transcended a “game” and become a competition that superstars are willing to lose their beautiful locks over. Now comes word that NBA teams have ditched draft reports and started using PS3s to check out their competition or evaluate talent they’re considering signing. Speaking to the LA Times, however, Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey could’ve used a better example to illustrate his point.

“Say if you’re thinking about acquiring Ron Artest,” Morey said from Hawaii, where he was evaluating talent in person at the Maui Classic college tournament. “On the game, you can see how adding Artest can change the dynamic of your team. You can program it to run offensive sets with Artest and any combination of your players.”

Yeah, sure he’s got tons of emotional issues and the baggage of the brawl at The Palace weighing over him… but check out his digital visage at the three spot! Even with a half-functioning Tracy McGrady we’d be fools not to sign him thanks to our trusty Xbox! Oh robots, what jobs will they eliminate next?
Earlier: Machogames: Hit The Hardwood With NBA Live 09
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Teams plug in to video game to evaluate talent in NBA [LA Times]
Image [EA]