The Face of NBA 2K, Ronnie Singh, is the original NBA 2K content creator, rising up from being an avid fan into one of the most recognizable faces of the company. Today, he serves as the Head of Lifestyle and Content Marketing of 2K Games.
Ronnie2K spoke to Fadeaway World on his recent trip to India and discussed various topics, from the best NBA player at 2K, the 2024 title favorites, and why he wants to stay connected with his roots in India.
Ishaan Bhattacharya: Who’s the best NBA player at 2K?
Ronnie Singh: “I did beat him pretty badly a few months ago. We were doing this thing with a company called OneUp which allows people to play competitively, with free-to-enter plays with a million-dollar prize around All-Star. I did a content series where I played 16 NBA players across the country earlier this well. I have always said Paul George is the best NBA player at 2K. But I gave him a pretty good spanking this year. Maybe he is too busy to play, we’ll have to figure out who the next guy is. Devin Booker is great as well, there are a lot of guys. A lot of them take it very seriously, some are much more under-the-radar about how much they play because fans will get on them about spending too much time on the virtual court as opposed to the physical courts.”
Ishaan Bhattacharya: What are your favorite basketball moments as a fan?
Ronnie Singh: “I grew up in the Michael Jordan era, so ‘The Shot’ and ‘The Flu Game’, a lot of the moments late in his career and right in the middle of the rise in my basketball fandom. Those are the ones I jump to. Every year there are new moments that I have had the pleasure of being at in person, but my growth as a basketball fan was definitely with the Jordan Bulls, like many basketball fans.”
Ishaan Bhattacharya: Who do you think will win the 2024 Championship?
Ronnie Singh: “I feel really confident about my pick at the beginning of the year with the Suns man. But Bradley Beal has had a hard time staying healthy, they haven’t had enough time to play and gel. The Nuggets have been playing well, I think they ran into some lethargy… Come playoff time, I think they are the teams in the West. The teams in the East will probably be the Celtics and Bucks, I had the Suns and Celtics in the Finals, and I think I’ll keep it there… They’re much deeper than last year but they’ve got to get something out of Bradley, so we’ll see.”
Ishaan Bhattacharya: What prompted you to take action over saving a Kobe Bryant mural near the Crypto.com Arena?
Ronnie Singh: “It was super important to me personally. I live close to the area and hung out there all the time. That piece of art, when I heard it was getting taken down and then I saw a petition of 90,000+ fans that wanted to save it. Getting it to be able to celebrate his legacy and keep in touch with the basketball community and allow them to do so, it’s a really iconic piece of art and it needed to be maintained, especially with its proximity to Crypto. It was a project we worked on, it together fast, I talked to the landlord of the building, ‘What’s it gonna take to keep this thing up?’, then we signed a deal. I am so glad it’s going to stay there for at least another year or so. We must continue to encourage people to keep art like that up, it’s important to the basketball culture.”
Ishaan Bhattacharya: How important is enriching single-player experiences like MyNBA for 2K players?
Ronnie Singh: “It’s been more important to us in the past few years. It’s been our featured announcement, we talked about this before the other modes. It’s definitely important to us because I think the business of basketball, letting our fans educate themselves and get involved in that is super important. I think the mode has been great, especially with the additions we’ve made, so we’re really excited about the future.”
Ishaan Bhattacharya: What prompted you to be actively involved with 2K content creators to further enrich the community?
Ronnie Singh: “The model of what I was as the OG influencer in this world, taught me lessons about why it’s important to embrace others. They are very important, the guys that provide so much feedback to our game and excitement with our fanbase. Any way we can reward them for their hard work. Creating content is a lot of work and you’re really putting yourself out there and it’s a career you’re investing a lot in, so any way we can help contribute to their success, I wanna be a part of it. It’s a big pillar for me to help the next generation with everything. That’s why I like some of the programs I’m working on.
Ronnie2K Staying In Touch With His Roots
Ronnie2K is currently in India and helping the game of basketball grow in the country. Singh also unveiled a court for the NBA Foundations in Mumbai, speaking passionately about why this is important to him as a first-generation Indian.
“One of the reasons I am in India is for a court opening we did in Mumbai to grow the game of basketball and stoke the passion of basketball with the younger generation. It’s not gonna happen right away, basketball won’t surpass cricket tomorrow, but the goal is for it to grow. If I can be a part of that, it’ll be thrilling for me. Basketball means a lot to me as a first-generation Indian kid… I want to continue investing here in the game of basketball, so I wanna come back and do more stuff here, so we’ll definitely talk again.”
The state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court at the MPS CBSE Mithagar School in Mumbai will help 150 children train daily to excel at basketball under Hi-5 Youth Foundation’s ‘Hope Thru Hoops’ program. The artwork on the court is stunning.
Along with furthering the cause of basketball in India, Ronnie2K also advocated for the popularity of the NBA 2K franchise in the country. There’s a rich fanbase that’s already been built over the last few years, with the NBA 2K League being streamed on India’s leading live game streaming and eSports platform, Loco. The popularity of the same is growing, already grossing over 3.8 million viewers over the past season.
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