NOTHING WAS THE SAME: The Return of Derek Baldwin (2023-2027)

[Scars]

BROOKLYN WE GO HARD

[chosenone58]

BROOKLYN WE GO HARD

[chosenone58]

Background

Derek Baldwin was originally created on 2K14 as a MyCareer character. His career spanned 7 seasons. He was drafted by Chicago after skipping the 2010 NBA Draft and spending three years playing basketball in Spain. So he's a 25 year old rookie. In his rookie season he led the Chicago Bulls to their 7th championship coming back from a 3-1 deficit to the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second season. They returned to the NBA Finals in the final season where they defeated the New Orleans Pelicans. After not receiving an increase in his role or a significant increase in pay (not to mention the signing of Brandon Jennings), Baldwin left the Bulls during free agency and joined the Los Angeles Clippers. Teaming up with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan saw much success throughout his tenure there. They won four straight championships. During his fourth season, he suffered with knee injuries and after winning gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, he decided to call it quits.

Off the court, Derek dealt with some serious family issues, including his twin brother who slept with his girlfriend and got her pregnant when he was in Spain, then tried to use the kid to scam his brother out of child support by trying to convince Derek that the kid was his. After moving to Los Angeles, Baldwin dated and eventually married actress Naya Rivera after her divorce from Big Sean. She gave birth to their son Jordan Carter Baldwin in 2021. He is as about as high profile as an athlete can get, being close personal friends with rapper Jay Z and most of the NBA's Hall of Famers (he's like LeBron, but with a much better hairline).

NOTE: This was the longest MyCareer I had ever done, it actually lasted for a little over two years in real time, so as you can see this player and this story are near and dear to us SS guys. I had so much fun with this character, that I decided to sim 2K16 ahead 8 years to the year 2023 and pick up Derek Baldwin's story, but from a different perspective. I imported some of the good players that I could remember from 2K14's MyCareer mode and even added some future NBA players to the mix, Zion WIlliams, Marvin Bagley and the like.

So, three years later, a 35-year old Derek Baldwin decided to return to the NBA as the head coach and President of Operations of the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets have continued to struggle, so having one of the NBA's greatest players on the sidelines was a big deal. Baldwin had a crop of young talent, including Shareef O'Neal and Michael Bibby, Jr. One of his first moves after taking over the Nets was signing his pal Paul George and George's former teammate Greg Monroe to round out his starting lineup.

Season 1 (2023-24)
Derek Baldwin and his young star player, Keith Perkins clashed early on as Perkins refused to play under Baldwin who he felt was trying to stifle his game. hE was a volume scorer and Baldwin was trying to turn him into a playmaker. Perkins soon saw himself coming off the bench behind Bibby, Jr. and refused to practice. He was labeled as not being a team player and was nearly traded. After a few bumps in the road, the Nets took off, finishing the 2023-24 season with 54 wins, making the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, losing in the Eastern Conference Finals to the eventual back-to-back champions, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Off the court, Derek's nephew was attempting to move to New York to live with his uncle so that he could attend high school there, much to his dad's chagrin. Derek and his brother still aren't speaking. Baldwin almost lost his wife near the end of the season after hanging out with one of his old flames from Chicago that moved to NYC and sharing a not so innocent kiss.

Season 2 (2024-25)
During the offseason, the Nets signed Kobe Bryant as the new assistant head coach. An injury to center, Greg Monroe saw Baldwin sign free agent Tony Solomon, a former NBA powerhouse (2K14 computer generated player), whose career was derailed by injury and he soon found himself playing in China trying to fight his way back on to an NBA roster. Solomon proved useful to the Nets and he played well off the bench behind Monroe, earning him a contract for the following season. The Nets surpassed the hype during the season, finishing with 65 wins and they were blazing through the playoffs, but lost their star point guard and league MVP, Keith Perkins, in Game 3 of their four game sweep of the Boston Celtics in the round before. They were now down two players heading into the Eastern Conference Finals, as they had lost Paul George prior to the start of the playoffs. They were matched against the 76ers again. Shareef O'Neal put up a Herculean effort in Game 2 and Paul George managed to return for Game 5, but it wasn't enough as they loss 4-1 and the 76ers took home their third title.

LeBron James retired after two seasons with James Harden and the Houston Rockets.

Off the court, not much was happening in Derek's home life. His players, on the other hand, had some serious issues. R.J. Hunter was sleeping with a woman that was dating Keith Perkins. TMZ found out about the whole thing. Trade rumors were circulating, but the deadline came and went with Hunter still on the team.

Season 3 (2025-26) Part I
This is the season that I am currently playing. I've brought everything over to NBA 2K18. I didn't sim ahead, I just moved the rosters around to match them as closely as possible and aged everyone up 8 years. I recreated about 100 players as well from 2K16. High rated A.I. that I wanted to keep around and of course, the Brooklyn Nets roster.

The Nets made a splash during the NBA Draft trading for not one, not two, but three rookies. Aaron Palmer (SG) and Nate Matthews (C) both from LSU and Adam Demps (PG) from DePaul. The headlines surrounding Adam upon entering the league is that Derek Baldwin and his mother used to date when he was first drafted by the Bulls 12 years ago (which is true). There will be some friction between him and other players in regard to Baldwin showing favoritism. The Nets traded R.J. Hunter to get Palmer, Duane Phelps to get Demps, and they traded Rodney Hood along with future draft picks to Dallas to get Matthews.

This was also probably one of the most active free agencies that I've seen since I played this. After trading the rookie Nate Matthews to the Nets, the Dallas Mavericks signed Steph Curry, Blake Griffin, and Hassan Whiteside. The Ball brothers are back, LaMelo plays for the Clippers and LiAngelo plays for the Spurs. WIllie Cauley-Stein plays for the Lakers (alongside D'Angelo Russell and Kawhi Leonard) and Boogie Cousins plays for the Bulls.

Lots of questions surrounding such a young team this season. Baldwin traded away a lot of season veterans. The Nets got off to a hot start as usual. Michael Bibby, Jr. went down with a torn ACL in late November and will miss the rest of the season. The Nets were holding firm for a while, but things were starting to get a little rocky for them as the grind of the season was beginning to wear on them. Losing to the Washington Wizards was the final straw.

ENTER DEREK BALDWIN.

After much deliberation, the 38-year old veteran decided to step down as head coach and was signed to a 1-year deal with the Nets. His first game was December 31st at home against the Orlando Magic where he scored 24 points in his debut as a member of the Nets. Brooklyn has seemed to be settling into a groove with Baldwin and looked to be poised to win a championship. They pretty much have to at this point, right?

Off the court, Naya is still acting and making music. They also found out during Thanksgiving that Naya was pregnant with twins. Derek's nephew is finishing his senior year at Isidore Newman in New Orleans. Where will he end up playing college ball? Will he go to college or play overseas? Will he join the Big Baller Brand League?

That's pretty much it, in a nutshell. As you can see, I like to throw in a few storylines in for dramatic effect. I've tried to put in as many future players as I can to keep it interesting (LeBron James Jr. and Andre Iguodala Jr. are featured in the 2026 Draft Class).

I will pick up the story at the start of February 2026. The Nets currently are leading the Eastern Conference with a record of 46-7. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy presenting it.

[chosenone58]

[chosenone58]

[C-Dub]

teams wearing 20 year old jerseys

[chosenone58]

teams wearing 20 year old jerseys

Gotta respect the classics

[kibaxx7]

Man I love that Nets branding, one of my favs.

[Scars]

PG and Baldwin teaching these youngbloods how it's done

[chosenone58]

Man I love that Nets branding, one of my favs.

One of my favorite uniforms.

PG and Baldwin teaching these youngbloods how it's done

That veteran leadership is priceless