NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on how I’m not too excited by the fact that NBA 2K27 previews are coming very soon.
July is right around the corner, which means another NBA 2K preview season is looming on the horizon. Naturally, we’ll be covering all of the NBA 2K27 news and previews as they’re posted, both with bulletins summarising the key information and by discussing the latest details on the NLSC Podcast. As always, it’ll be interesting to see what the developers have cooked up this year, and to join Dee in providing some trustworthy analysis and commentary before and after release. To be perfectly honest however, I wish that I were more excited about seeing those NBA 2K27 previews.
That’s not to say that I’m completely disinterested, or that I won’t be locked in as we cover the preview season. Yes, I’ll be getting NBA 2K27 for content and collection purposes, and ideally I’ll end up enjoying it as well. Unfortunately, after the last three NBA 2K games, I’m not entirely optimistic that I will. That dulls my enthusiasm for the forthcoming NBA 2K27 previews, as I’m not expecting to see any of the changes and additions that would get me excited about this year’s release. Of course, my lack of excitement could actually work in my favour. By tempering my expectations I’ll either avoid disappointment, or in the best case scenario, be surprisingly delighted.
I’ll admit that I’ve always felt some wistful trepidation when we’re anticipating the release of a new game. In some ways, it’s much worse when I’m greatly enjoying the most recent release. It means we’re entering the final countdown on a game that I’ve grown to love and am extremely accustomed to. Sure, it doesn’t mean I can’t ever play it again, but I’ll at least need to bench it temporarily in order to check out the new one. I guess you could say that I suffer the New Game Blues rather intensely, even when I haven’t had to start over from square one in MyCAREER. It’s not so bad when I end up loving the new game, but until then, I do dread the ticking clock on its predecessor.
It goes back to me being a creature of habit, and in many ways, my predisposition for retro gaming. Growing up, I didn’t always have the latest console or a top-of-the-line gaming PC, and thus couldn’t always play the newest basketball video games. There’s a reason that I was creating a 1998 season roster update for NBA Live 96 PC all those years ago! It wasn’t until I began getting more involved with the community here at the NLSC, and certainly after I took over the site, that I developed a keener interest in moving on to the newest game every year. Obviously, covering the preview season and maintaining the NLSC’s current roster updates were major factors in that change.
To that end, whenever I’ve still been having a blast with a game as a new release is on the horizon, part of me stubbornly asks “Why do I have to move on? I’m having fun playing what I want, plus I’m not done yet!” Of course, when you’re not grinding hard in a mode that forces you to work before you can enjoyably play, you can potentially split your time between multiple titles! With that being said, from a content creation standpoint, you do need to dedicate ample time to a new release so that you can cover it thoroughly. Once again, it all works out for the best whenever the new release turns out to be an improvement and a game you love, but I still have that kneejerk reaction.
On the other hand, whenever the most recent game hasn’t been to my liking, I have looked to the future with anticipation, hoping that the next one will correct course. However, if a series is in a rut and I’m not confident that it’s going to get any better anytime soon, it’s undoubtedly difficult to get too excited about the next entry. That’s currently where I’m at with the NBA 2K series. By and large, the ninth generation has been a bust for me, especially when it comes to NBA 2K. I haven’t completely hated every game this generation, and there were a couple that I mostly liked, namely NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K23. Apart from that though, it’s not been my favourite run of 2Ks.
The last three games in particular have not only failed to keep me hooked, but also dimmed my excitement for the future. That may sound melodramatic, not to mention hypocritical. I mean, NBA Live sunk to far lower depths beginning with the seventh generation, and yet I stuck by it. Mind you, in addition to lingering youthful nostalgia, there’s a notable difference here. Those games were rough, but NBA Live was trying to rebuild, and made some progress here and there. NBA 2K24, NBA 2K25, and NBA 2K26 are all far superior games, but I just don’t like the design choices and direction that the series has taken. The improvements I desire aren’t necessarily in the roadmap.
My gripes with how the game handles on the sticks are an issue with the underlying technology. That’s not going to change until they implement a new engine, which is unlikely this late in a generation. My distaste for the shooting mechanics comes down to preference and design philosophy. Since I’m not part of the demographic that the games are catering to these days, I’m not confident that they’ll change course in a way that makes those mechanics more palatable to me. I’m drawn to MyNBA Eras, but on top of my issues with the gameplay, I don’t relish having to fix all of the inaccuracies in the historical rosters, or waiting weeks or even months for someone else to do so.
In short, the last few games haven’t delivered in the way that I’d hope, so sadly I’m not optimistic that the NBA 2K27 previews will bring the news I want to hear. After all, while I may not have been a fan of those games, other people clearly enjoyed them. They’re not broken like the worst NBA Live releases; they’re just not to my taste. The changes that many of us hoped to see with NBA Live were improvements that needed to happen, and the developers (once) agreed. My criticisms of recent NBA 2K titles aren’t shared or cared about by everyone, and the series remains successful. As such, you could say that my desired changes don’t match the consensus, or the devs’ vision.
I’ve also grown far more cynical about the preview season. That goes back to our first look at NBA 2K19, when Mike Wang admitted in an interview that aspects that had been touted as improvements in the NBA 2K18 developer blogs were in fact bandaid fixes for issues with the new motion system. After being told that it was an intentional design choice and a year of the game’s defenders insisting that the problem was a lack of skill or understanding, there it was in black and white: yes, the game had problems, and makeshift solutions were marketed as carefully-crafted enhancements! As I said in a video essay, NBA 2K19’s previews revealed they flat out lied about NBA 2K18!
That led me to be even more vigilant in comparing developer blogs from year to year, searching out those contradictions as well as familiar buzzwords and phrases. Seeing the previous game get thrown under the bus with admissions that the Awesome New Feature actually wasn’t so awesome, not to mention repetitive claims about skill gaps and finally fixing the same issues year after year, made it impossible to trust any of those developer blogs. Sure, I learned a long time ago to take previews with a grain of salt, but these days I don’t feel that I can trust them at all! While such scepticism may be a wise approach, it certainly doesn’t lend itself to getting hyped for a new game.
My NBA 2K fatigue has also unquestionably been exacerbated by the lack of any new NBA Live releases since 2018. Without a contemporary alternative to at least try, I’ve had no choice but to resort to retro basketball gaming to satisfy my desire to hit the virtual hardwood. That hasn’t been a bad thing, of course. I’ve been able to make new memories with old favourites, developed an appreciation for games that I overlooked or had a bad first impression of, and expanded the list of classics that I enjoy dusting off. I don’t regret leaning into that preference. Not only has it been a blast, but I know that I can always fall back on those games if I’m disappointed by the latest NBA 2K.
At the same time, I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t lead to comfort that isn’t always conducive to mustering enthusiasm for a new game. That doesn’t mean I’m allowing nostalgia to get in the way of giving new releases a fair chance; at least, not in the way that the anti-nostalgia crowd might argue it does, anyway. However, knowing that I have viable alternatives to the latest game if it fails to impress and delight me, I’m less inclined to keep trying to find the fun in it. That’s healthy in some respects – it’s better to play a game you legitimately like rather than force yourself to pretend to enjoy one you don’t – but it can stand in the way of perseverance and a second look.
Additionally, my dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the current state of the NBA and lack of connection to the contemporary crop of players also makes classic titles a preferable option to a new release. After all, my enthusiasm for basketball gaming is an extension of my love for the sport itself. While I remain a hardcore hoop head and do still watch games – I did tune in to the 2026 NBA Finals – not many of my fondest basketball memories happened recently. It’s been a while since a season has excited me from start to finish, and I’ve eagerly awaited the next one to begin. To that point, the impending arrival of a new sim title is also a sign that a new season draws nearer.
In turn, the ability to play with updated rosters and a new rookie crop is definitely part of the anticipation for a new game. Yes, we can and certainly have updated the most recent game or another popular and frequently-played title through modding as we prepare for the upcoming season. Of course, it’s cool to have those updates and new players as part of a game’s official rosters, hopefully along with other additions and enhancements. A fresh virtual basketball experience has been a way to fill the void as the offseason winds down. If you’re not keenly anticipating the start of a new season and are feeling a bit ho-hum about the NBA in general though, that novelty is gone.
Throw in those issues with the games themselves along with the cynical scepticism that there’ll be any improvement anytime soon, and the impending preview season doesn’t have me feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. And so, here we are. NBA 2K27 previews are coming, and I’m nowhere near as excited as I wish I was. Once again, that doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in NBA 2K27 at all, or that I won’t be putting as much effort as possible into covering the preview season with bulletins and discussing the news with Dee on the podcast. I won’t sugar-coat my opinions, but I absolutely won’t be phoning in my part in our coverage of the NBA 2K27 previews.
Moreover, there’s a certain advantage to having low expectations after the past three years. If the games are more of the same and don’t resonate with me, so be it. I would rather that not be the case, but I know that I can fall back on my old favourites and retro basketball gaming in general. However, if I do see some of the improvements that I’ve been hoping for and enjoy NBA 2K27 more than I was expecting, it’ll be a pleasant surprise. Even if I’m not excitedly anticipating the previews of NBA 2K27 at this time, it’s important to remain open-minded so that I can take in the news, judge the game fairly when it’s in my hands, and perhaps even ultimately enjoy playing it.
And who knows? Once those NBA 2K27 previews start rolling out, maybe I will feel more excited about this year’s game. It’s going to take more than familiar rhetoric and platitudes that I recognise from several years’ worth of developer blogs, though! Still, if I do see some things I like that don’t feel like vague and empty promises, then sure, my hopes could be raised. I’m already interested in the game and would undoubtedly prefer to be looking forward to it than dreading another disappointment, so I’m open to being wowed into a more optimistic frame of mind. No, I’m not excited right now, but show me some promising previews of NBA 2K27, and we’ll see how I feel then!
