‘Last year I trash talked pretty much every game’: Korean-American Golden State Gaming Squad’s Jin Choe on NBA 2K life
- The Korean-American star says verbally assaulting your opponent is part of the game, much like real basketball
- Choe adds getting paid to play NBA 2K is ‘surreal’
As the NBA 2K League continues its second season, one thing has emerged as a selling point for fans: watching the gamers trash talk.
Jin Choe, who plays small forward for the Warriors Gaming Squad, said last season he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
“Even though it’s not as much as last year where I talked trash pretty much every game, all game, I still talk trash here and there,” said Choe, who plays under the handle “Jin”. “I definitely think it serves a purpose in not only bringing energy and hyping up my teammates but also getting in the other team’s head a little bit. For me personally, talking trash to me only makes me play better. The last time I talked trash was week one in the regular season against the Pistons since one of their players was already talking to me before the game started.”
Choe, 20, who was born in South Korea but moved with his family to Maryland when he was still a baby, said just the fact he gets to play video games for a living (he now lives in California where the Golden State team is based) is taking a bit of getting used to.
“It feels surreal to say and I never thought I would have been able to say that,” said Choe, whose team sits in fifth into the 21-team league’s 2019 season. “I always knew I was good at video games and a step above everyone, but to not only be known as a professional video game player but also to represent an organisation in the NBA is just amazing. It definitely is a dream come true.”
