NBA 2K18's MyTeam: Week 14

It’s been pretty quiet on the MyTeam front since Kobe Christmas hit the marketplace a couple of weeks ago. No new Throwback Thursday cards. No new Premium Packs. No new anything.

Then once 2018 officially hit, they dropped a zillion (34) new Moments cards!

The big fish (in my humble opinion) is a diamond (yes, diamond) James Harden. He rivals Kobe as the best shooting guard in the game right now. Plus there’s also a diamond Bradley Beal (they really love that guy over at 2K) and a bunch of new amethysts out in the wild.

Feast on the full list of new cards in this developer blog.

And technically this isn’t new content (yet), but after earning Kenyon Martin in the last batch of weekly challenges, it was revealed that in five glorious weeks we’ll see a diamond Rick Barry!!!

I am absolutely thrilled, as this will give me a third diamond to go with my Kobe and Jo Jo White. Then once I (some day) finish the Western Conference historic collections I’ll add a diamond Dirk Nowitzki to that lineup, and finally when I (probably never) beat All-Time Domination I’ll unlock the diamond Wes Unseld I’ve heard a lot about (from far better players than I).

That potential all-diamond God Lineup is definitely something to dream about.

I did finally beat the last two Historic Domination games. Yes, the MT was good, but I can’t say I was thrilled with the Fat Lever card I chose as my reward. He’s fine, but he’s certainly not supplanting Jo Jo as my starting point guard. And I like bringing ruby Ron Harper off the bench (or starting, depending on the matchup) to bully smaller point guards. So Mr. Lever is currently riding the pine.

Speaking of new cards, now seems like a grand time to update my original list of go-to players. Some are these guys fly under the radar, and some are obvious (spoiler: Kobe), but as we leave 2017 behind I feel the need to acknowledge the players that have been my MyTeam MVPs thus far.

1. P.J. Brown was the first amethyst collection reward I earned, and he’s been my starting center ever since. I first tried him out with his emerald in the Hornets collection, and really liked him. But his amethyst is a defensive beast. Starting him and bringing ruby Dikembe Mutombo off the bench has been great for me. At least until I can finally complete that Jazz collection and get Mark Eaton.
2. I know the last few weeks I was down on Kenyon Martin being a weekly challenge reward, but he’s actually be really great for my team. Defensively he’s fantastic, he’s crazy athletic and can even shoot the three-ball (especially with a decent shoe). He and Bob Love are my power forward one-two-punch, but in crunch time when I need a stop or a rebound, I go with Kenyon.
3. Ron Artest was my first amethyst, period, and he hasn’t left my starting lineup since I beat Domination. He’s the heart and soul of any team I put together. But recently I’ve been using Xavier McDaniel a ton. He does a little bit of everything, and I especially like playing him at the 4 in a small-ball lineup (or sometimes Ron Artest plays a mean stretch 4 alongside Xavier). Either way they cause a lot of havoc together… and c’mon, his freaking name is Xavier!
4. Diamond Kobe. What more can I say.
5. I mentioned Jo Jo White and Ron Harper already, but the player I’ve actually used more at point guard over the last few months has been Dennis Johnson. He can’t shoot from outside unfortunately, but he’s been invaluable in domination as he can score around the basket, draw fouls and has a gold dimer badge. Overall I’ve just been extremely impressed with him.

I’m sure I’ll revisit this list as I unlock more collection rewards, but so far my team is coming together nicely. Who are your favorite players at this point in the season? Any diamonds (pun intended) in the rough?

Happy New Year everyone, and here’s to a great 2018 in MyTeam!