Tag Archives: MyCAREER Stories

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five inaccuracies and other issues that have bothered me while basketball gaming.

Even the best basketball video games have had issues and inaccuracies. Perfection is basically an impossible bar to reach, and coding a sophisticated video game of any genre is hardly as simple as typing plain English into a word processor! Also, some ideas simply just don’t pan out. And so, we accept that our favourite hoops titles will have imperfections. In the best case scenario, it doesn’t stop us from enjoying them. Mind you, because we’re passionate about basketball and basketball gaming alike, any major inaccuracies and technical issues are naturally difficult to ignore.

Of course, these issues and inaccuracies don’t always ruin basketball video games. As I said, even our favourite games have them, and we all have different standards and expectations besides. With that being said, while technical problems, inaccuracies, and other issues may not completely spoil a game, they can still end up bothering us. The good ultimately outweighs the bad, but they’re still the finer points that we can’t help but notice, and would like to see fixed and improved upon for an even better experience. To that end, while the following five issues and inaccuracies didn’t stop me from having fun on the virtual hardwood, they were nevertheless a bit annoying!

Read More »

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 despite some interesting ideas here and there, MyCAREER keeps telling us the same old story.

When the Next Gen version of NBA 2K14 launched with the very first MyCAREER story, it was a bold attempt to innovate with the single player career experience. The mode had already been expanding since its debut in NBA 2K10 as My Player, but introducing a narrative with cutscenes and further role-playing elements continued to differentiate it from the franchise modes. Once 2K began working with big name filmmakers and actors, MyCAREER came to feature impressive production values and deeper stories, which I’ve come to appreciate.

There are some recurring problems with the story-driven approach to MyCAREER, of course. Not everyone is interested in flavour content like that, especially if they just want to build up a player for the online scene. The quality of the stories has varied over the years, with a few of them being very obnoxious in tone. There have been some distracting disconnections between the story and the MyPLAYER protagonist, where a very specific back story doesn’t suit the concept of avatar customisation. If nothing else, we’re not rated like we’re a future star! However, the biggest issue is that even in the best case scenario, we end up being told the same old MyCAREER story.

Read More »

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of my favourite teammates from all of my MyCAREER games.

I may have returned to my roots as a franchise gamer in 2025, but I’ll always hold great affection for MyCAREER after getting into it way back in 2012. To that end, the mode is still part of my basketball gaming thanks to NBA 2K14. Even though it isn’t a priority for me right now, there’s no doubt that MyCAREER has delivered some of my favourite virtual hardwood experiences over the past decade or so. My avatars have played for a handful of teams in various games, though given the choice I’ve frequently opted for Chicago. The Bulls are my favourite team, after all!

What about my favourite teammates in MyCAREER? Strangely enough, while I’ve enjoyed playing for the Bulls in MyCAREER as much as taking control of them in franchise modes – and there have been players that I like on those squads – my all-time favourite teammates have generally been on other teams; at least to begin with. It’s not altogether surprising given that none of the Bulls squads during the late 2010s rank up there among my favourites, but even putting that aside, my MyCAREER games have placed me in some fun scenarios with teammates I’ve really enjoyed virtually hooping with. These five teammates went a long way in keeping me hooked on MyCAREER.

Read More »

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 fictional players in sim basketball games.

By definition, sim basketball games are anchored in reality. Unlike arcade games, we don’t expect or desire to see mascots and other secret characters being playable on team rosters. However, we are invited to create fictional scenarios through fantasy drafts and the trades and signings of our choice in franchise play, as well as the card collecting and old school custom teams modes. We can also inject NBA Legends and classic teams into the current NBA, play inter-era exhibitions, and mod in fictional characters. The All-Time Teams in NBA 2K are ready-made fantasy scenarios, too.

In other words, sim games aren’t always serious business, or about playing with real rosters, be they contemporary or historical. That is still the default starting point, of course. Any breaks from reality that we see are either at our discretion, or intrinsic to the concept of a specific mode. Furthermore, these fictional scenarios still involve real players. We’re generally not clamouring to see completely fictional characters inserted into modes where rosters are expected to reflect reality; at least to begin with. With that being said, we have seen fictional players who aren’t placeholders take part in modes based around the real NBA. I certainly have mixed feelings about that idea.

Read More »

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m reflecting on manipulating cutscenes in basketball video games.

Cutscenes have been in basketball video games for decades. In early titles such as Double Dribble, the rotoscoped dunks spiced up the action in a game that otherwise had very limited animation. Tecmo Super NBA Basketball also added further detail through the use of cutscenes, though some gamers felt they interrupted the flow of the gameplay. That’s certainly a common criticism of Arch Rivals, which displayed a cutaway after every basket. In more recent games, there have been options to cut to a different angle on wide open dunks, or a three-pointer made with a Green Release.

The Courtside Comedy of NBA Live 2003 produced rather infamous cutscenes! And of course, the MyCAREER stories rely heavily on cutscenes to tell their tales. Those types of cutscenes tend to be more divisive compared to starting lineup introductions, instant replays, and championship celebrations, which are considered an essential ingredient in achieving authentic presentation. Over the years, we’ve found ways of manipulating cutscenes to portray specific scenarios, whether it’s for greater accuracy or simply for the sake of humour. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

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 reflections on MyCAREER stories that have gone untold…at least from my perspective.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I’m glad to have escaped the basketball gaming habits that had me in a rut. Although I can still have fun with MyCAREER – as my ongoing game in NBA 2K14 clearly demonstrates – I don’t miss the annual ritual of starting over from scratch with a ridiculously low-rated MyPLAYER. I don’t miss diligently doing every extracurricular activity to maximise my VC earnings so that I don’t have to spend money to speed up the process. I don’t miss weathering an awful grind until MyCAREER is fun, knowing that I’ll have to do it all over again next year.

With that being said, I would’ve liked to have spent a bit more time in MyCAREER in recent years, if only so that I could comment on their stories like I have for previous games. Although I’ve been quite critical of some of the MyCAREER stories, I’ve also greatly enjoyed others, and come to appreciate the concept in general. Of course, what I really miss is the ability to go back and experience the MyCAREER stories in recent NBA 2K games. Now that the mode is no longer available in any form offline, a big chunk of eighth and ninth gen NBA 2K releases isn’t available for retro/throwback gaming. And so for me, these MyCAREER stories will sadly remain untold What Ifs.

Read More »

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five things that frequently spoil multi-season modes in basketball video games.

So, I’ve explained why I strongly believe that multi-season modes are awesome, and I stand by that. I wouldn’t maintain an interest in them if I didn’t! However, I also won’t pretend that they’re perfect and that nothing can spoil the experience. Please note that when I say spoil, I don’t necessarily mean that the mode is completely ruined and no longer capable of being enjoyed. Again, if these were insurmountable issues, then my interest in multi-season modes would soon evaporate, and even after all these years, that obviously isn’t the case!

Nevertheless, there are quirky things that are annoying or detract from the intended experience in some way. Even if they ultimately don’t stand in the way of enjoying multi-season modes, they’re among my pet peeves in some of my all-time favourite basketball video games, and issues that I’d prefer future games to avoid. In other words, if you were to ask me what are my least favourite aspects in some of my favourite modes and games, the issues that I’m discussing here are definitely on that list! I adore multi-season modes and will always recommend them as a fun way to play basketball games, but be warned: these are some issues that you might encounter.

Read More »

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 reflections on developing more of an appreciation for MyCAREER stories over the years.

I’ll admit that as a creature of habit, I can be resistant to change. I’d like to think that I’ve grown in that regard. For example, I’m no longer the really picky eater I was as a kid! When it comes to basketball video games, I’ve come to enjoy a number of titles that left a poor first impression, and modes that I never thought I’d be interested in. What still bothers me though is change for change’s sake, or any changes where the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. I think we can all relate to the frustration of having something we really like being drastically changed in a way we didn’t want or ask for.

That brings me to MyCAREER, and the stories that the mode has featured since 2013. Originally, I had no interest in the mode. I was a franchise gamer, after all! However, just as I overcame picky eating habits by deciding to try new cuisine, I came to enjoy MyCAREER after giving it a proper shot in NBA 2K13. A year and a new generation of consoles later, the mode introduced a narrative-driven approach, and I felt that it took away from an experience that I was now enthusiastic about. As such, I’ve been critical of MyCAREER stories, yet also fascinated by them. Now that I’ve finished all of the stories up to NBA 2K20, I now appreciate what they’ve meant for the mode.

Read More »

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at MyCAREER in NBA 2K15, and the experimental approach that it took.

After going back and finally playing through that first cinematic MyCAREER story in NBA 2K14 – and getting completely hooked on it – that left NBA 2K15 as the only eighth gen game whose tale I hadn’t completed. There are a couple of reasons for that. In 2014, I still hadn’t warmed up to the idea of a narrative-driven MyCAREER mode, and unfortunately, the NBA 2K15 MyPLAYER isn’t the most likeable protagonist to take control of! I was also trying to give NBA Live 15 a fair chance to impress, and actually ended up playing a lot of Ultimate Team that year.

However, you don’t produce a feature like Wayback Wednesday unless you’re willing to give games a second chance, and dive into the history of the virtual hardwood! To that end, I have gone back and finally properly played through MyCAREER in NBA 2K15. It does have its issues, in terms of both the story and the general experience, and some of my initial impressions were on the mark. At the same time, there is an enjoyable experience there, and the approach that it took was definitely an interesting experiment. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at the various iterations of 24/7 mode in NBA 2K.

There are many features, modes, and concepts in basketball video games that are older than we may recall. To that point, MyCAREER has been a staple of NBA 2K since its debut as My Player way back in NBA 2K10; a game released in 2009. For that matter, the story-driven approach to MyCAREER has been the standard for over ten years now, debuting in NBA 2K14 Next Gen and appearing in almost three times as many games as the original version of the mode. In short, a single player career mode is nothing new at this point.

However, the concept is even older than that! While we didn’t get a fully-fledged NBA-oriented career experience until 2009, earlier games did experiment with single player campaign modes. Indeed, NBA 2K branched out into this area very early on in the series, introducing 24/7 mode in ESPN NBA Basketball (aka NBA 2K4). It was relatively short-lived as it was phased out after NBA 2K7, but it stands as a creative concept that undoubtedly paved the way for modern career modes. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five players whose NBA careers could (and indeed, should) inspire future MyCAREER stories.

As I’ve previously discussed, there are some real players whose careers bear some entertaining similarities to a few of the stories we’ve had in MyCAREER. I’ll admit that making those comparisons made me see those tales differently, especially the saga of the NBA 2K15 MyPLAYER! I also still really enjoy how “The Way Back” in NBA 2K19 resembled Andre Ingram’s road to the NBA, including a debut towards the end of the regular season. Obviously that was coincidental, but it does make you wonder which other players have stories that would be suitable for MyCAREER.

Now, you might be inclined to say that just about every player who makes it to the NBA had an interesting journey that would be viable as a MyCAREER story. That’s true to an extent, but many of them – while impressive and compelling in their own way – are very similar and straightforward. They don’t necessarily set up a unique scenario from a narrative or gameplay standpoint. We’ve already seen a variety of MyCAREER stories from triumphant tales of highly-touted prospects to underdogs scrapping for opportunities. Again, we’ve even seen a DJ become an NBA star! So, could any real players provide a template for future stories? I believe I can name five.

Read More »

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five outlines five changes that would fix some of the stories in MyCAREER.

As I’ve mentioned on several occasions, I have a love-hate relationship with the story-driven approach to MyCAREER. I can appreciate the production values and some of them have been enjoyable tales, but others have been poorly-written and intruded on the gameplay experience. I’ve made snarky jokes about them, but I also find them fascinating to analyse. Perhaps it’s because it feels like the concept of a MyCAREER story has so much promise, but the execution has too often hindered my enjoyment, or just been somewhat disappointing.

While I don’t believe in dismissing criticism with “let’s see you do better”, I do think that critique can be bolstered by identifying potential improvements. In other words, the fact that I’ve never written and produced a MyCAREER story doesn’t disqualify me from having an opinion on them, but I should be able to suggest ways in which the stories could improve rather than just dismissively calling them bad. On top of that, it’s an interesting exercise to consider just how much we’d need to change in order to provide – in my opinion, at least – a much better experience. With that being said, I’m going to give it a shot! Here are five changes that I’d make to MyCAREER stories.

Read More »

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of the five best shout outs that basketball games have made to previous entries in their series.

Who doesn’t appreciate a good callback? Whether it’s an Easter egg/fleeting reference or something more prominent, continuity never goes astray. This applies to video games as much as books, films, and television shows, especially as the medium has strived to improve its storytelling across various genres. Whether it’s a cameo like Harold’s appearance in Fallout 3, a peek at an era from a previous game as in the Monkey Island series, or the Elder Scrolls’ running gag about stolen sweetrolls, they’re an enjoyable part of video game lore and exploration.

Needless to say, basketball video games and other annual sports titles are a little different. By their very concept, they have numerous sequels and there are several similarities between games, right down to the players as long as they’re active or on a classic team. In other words, the ubiquitous aspects of the genre don’t count as shout outs to previous games. However, various basketball video games have found ways to celebrate their lineage, or feature a unique nod to their predecessors. These shout outs to previous games may be minor and we wouldn’t necessarily miss them if they weren’t there, but oftentimes they’re the fun details that make a game feel special.

Read More »

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five times that basketball games featured fictional content.

Authenticity is the name of the game when it comes to sim basketball titles. There are acceptable breaks from reality, of course. MyTEAM allows us to construct lineups that span multiple eras, with everyone in their prime and ignoring that some players have passed away. It’s a fantasy mode, after all. We can also choose to have classic teams from different eras square off, play with teams featuring all of the best players in club history, or even have a team face itself. Even in a sim game, there’s fun to be had doing things that can’t be done in real life.

Fictional content is something else altogether. It’s usually the mark of an arcade game, such as the Stickmen and other bonus teams in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, or the inclusion of Mortal Kombat characters in the arcade version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition. Most of the fictional content in sim titles comes from our own modding and roster customisation. With that being said, there are some times when fictional content appeared in sim basketball games, beyond the obvious examples of Roster Players filling in for unlicensed names. From placeholders and bonus content to questionable design choices, here are five times that sim basketball games had fictional elements.

Read More »

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five annoyances in basketball video games that ended up becoming novelties.

I’m still a sim gamer at heart. When I play franchise games, I prefer to start with real rosters, and allow the alternate reality to develop “organically”, rather than hold a fantasy draft or create fictional scenarios. I want to see sim games strive for a realistic depiction of the sport and its players, with acceptable deviations such as the precise number of dunks. To that point though, I’m not so inflexible that “realistic” means everything is accurate and true to life, down to the last detail. I’ve had fun attempting to play as realistically as possible, but I’ve also enjoyed a looser approach.

With that in mind, there are some things in basketball video games that were once annoyances for me, but now I don’t take them so seriously. Indeed, some of them are now novelties, and nostalgic in their own way. That’s not to say that I’m necessarily walking back on my criticism of them, but my stance has changed from “Ugh, this is awful” to “Actually, this is kind of fun”. It definitely helps that basketball games have improved in many ways throughout the years, with the best ones achieving things that once seemed impossible. When I do go back to some of the older games though, I will see novelties where once I had gripes and annoyances, such as these five examples.

Read More »