An informative Q&A with Heat Check Gaming’s HotShot

Heat Check Gaming matched up against 76ers GC in week six of the season. Here are the details of a Q&A with Heat Check’s HotShot from that evening.

Ahead of Heat Check Gaming’s week six matchup against rival 76ers GC, there were a couple of minutes available to catch up with the team’s center, HotShot. Through nine regular season games, he’s averaging fourteen points, fifteen rebounds, six assists, three steals, and a block per game. His teammates and coach believe he’s the best big man in the league, so I had a few questions for him.

Question:
There are a lot of NBA 2k players in the league and at home that talk the humble talk and say, “I don’t care about numbers, I just want the W.” How have you navigated your talent in relation to the team wanting you to get yours?

Answer:
“Last year, I scored a lot of points. Most of the points. I got the stats last year, but I didn’t win a championship, and I fell short. So this year, I don’t care about the stats. That’s all out the window to me. I just want to win now. It felt good scoring fifty points, but the championship would’ve been better.”

Q:
That segues into my next question. If you had to rate it, how awesome did it feel as a big man to be able to paint mash and kind of get whatever you wanted down there during season one? As someone who plays the game as a big man often, it was amazing to watch.

A:
“It was the funnest game. As a center, you know you want to dunk the ball…you want to dunk on people. You can’t really do it this year! But last year was fun for me.”

Q:

I don’t want to keep you too long, so here’s my last question. Last week, you led the team in assists with eighteen (nine in each game). Do you think that’s something sustainable going forward?

A:
“Eh, we just have to play within the game. Last week I wasn’t scoring. I was doing the facilitating. That’s just how the game goes. Some games I’m going to score more, some games I’m going to pass more. It just depends on how the defense plays me. Most teams are going to try to bring two, three people at me, and I just have to make the right play.”

Q:

I just wrote a piece about you winning player of the week last week and no shade… I kind of compared you to a younger Andrew Bogut. I hope that’s no offense, but a few years ago he would stand there in the high post and dish the ball to everyone. Now Draymond does it.

Heat Check Social Media Coordinator Alex Granado couldn’t help but chime in:

” I think he’s more of a Jokic type.”

HotShot:
”That’s what they’re going to tell you. You can go with the Draymond comparison. I like the defense.”

Q:
No one will ever say HotShot doesn’t play defense. That’s for sure. How quickly does it work in-game where you guys change the offense to go through you so you can spread the ball where it needs to go?

A:
It just happens in the flow of the game. Like if I go down on a roll and they drop, I always try to make the right play. I’m not going to try to force it into something bad. To me, I always like threes over twos anyway. So if they’re going to leave the corners open, I’m going to throw the ball to the corner.

Bonus Question:
Growing up in Miami, did you grow up salsa dancing or anything like that?

A:
Nahhh nah, that’s not me.

We went on to watch the conclusion of 76ers GC versus Warriors Gaming Squad. This matchup was important to the team as Heat Check would be facing the Sixers later that night. It was a great time getting a chance to hang with the team while also landing this Q&A with HotShot, and I hope to do it again soon.