I haven’t played an NBA game in quite some time. It was back in college, which for me was 13 years ago. I remember dicking around with friends and simulating entire seasons to see what would happen, and there being a lot of “NBA Street Vol. 2” sessions as well. Otherwise, it has been just the occasional “Nintendo Switch Sports” 3-point challenge, and watching the NBA. And doing fantasy basketball — that counts, I guess.
But then my team won the championship, and I decided to pick up the latest game to see the ring ceremony, the banner digitally being raised at MSG, and how much progress the “NBA 2K” series has made. What I didn’t expect to see was that the computer opponent’s artificial intelligence when it comes to the base difficulty has a problem:
The pick and roll.
The bread and butter of basketball. Fans know it well, and have seen it executed a trillion times. The ball handler has a pick set for him (by presumably a taller person), they roll to the basket, and can attack the rim, pass it up, fade, or draw the foul. The infinite number of permutations from this standard set play is so immense, and yet so trite, that there is a dedicated button to it in “NBA 2K27.”
And the CPU does NOT know how to handle it. Ever.
I’m not sure if this is a “me” issue, because I am so godlike, or because in the vast majority of modes I end up having elite players on both sides of the pick and roll. In most cases (Quick Play, MyTeam, MyCareer, The W), I play as both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns or Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart. These two sets of point guard and center combos have each won titles recently for New York, and they dominate both real life and this latest meta.
Again, I don’t know if that is something else other people have experienced yet, or is just a thing I’m noticing now. Could be a game thing, or a me thing, I just cannot say yet.
“NBA 2K27” hasn’t been out for very long, and I’m just getting used to everything. Picking a play, timing long jumpers with the new meter, using the right analog stick to perform flashy moves, and navigating the awful menus and UI/UX. It’s not muscle memory to me yet like experienced 2K vets, so it’s a lot to process all at once. These sports sims are so unfriendly to noobs like me, because I just prefer the old style of arcade basketball game like an “NBA Jam.” Every time I go to steal or block, it would just work, and I didn’t have to think about what buttons I was pressing.
But the secret to just winning every game so far? PnR the other team to death. They can’t defend it, and it’s 99% effective. Either way, someone is getting to their spot and draining a middy, or attacking the paint for an easy lay-up. There is no real error for failure, and I’m tempted to try two things (I’m still early on getting my sea legs). I could play as other teams to see if worse players have worse results (like playing the pathetic and irrelevant Brooklyn Nets) or I could jack up the difficulty. Remains to be seen how this will work, but I’m open to it. Maybe not playing as the Nets though, that would be an unforgivable sin.
In dabbling with the MyTeam mode, I can see why it’s so addictive to so many people. And of course, on the flip side, why 2K and Take Two would get so many people hooked on predatory micro transactions for those tasty VC coins to buy more card packs. A terrible shame that the entire industry has as a black eye, and should sully their reputation if actual sports also hadn’t sold their soul to the devil aka gambling apps and private equity stakes in ownership. Capitalism devours all and gives nothing back in return, folks.
But ripping open packs and seeing a shiny prime Antawn Jamison card both tickles my nostalgia and fires off all the neurons in my lizard brain. Improving my team, customizing the jerseys and the ball and the arena and my bench, it’s very cool. I even went online and caused somebody to rage quit in my first match! I did not get the automatic victory, which SUCKS. Give me the win, god damn it, I earned it!
I can’t speak to the differences of the last few iterations. I’m sure there are plenty of reused assets, canned animations, similar features and the usual complaints of “this feels like a download patch for new rosters.” Hell, I wouldn’t pay $80 just to see that the Houston Rockets got a new logo, but many people still do. All I can speak to is my personal experience really diving into a sports game for the first time in seemingly forever.
But by far the biggest problem with this game? The fact that Finals MVP Jalen Brunson at age 30 was NOT the cover athlete. It was Victor Wembanyama. I get it: he’s the most important hooper in the world, the face of the league, the future, and sells more copies internationally. But his time will come. For now? It should have been Brunson, because it’s not like he’s getting more famous after this season (unless my Knicks repeat). Wemby is so young, you could have held off until next year. Give my MVP his due now, while his legs still work.
Image Credit: “NBA 2K27”
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