Wayback Wednesday: 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16

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 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16, as well as how the mode has changed since then.

There was a time when I was very reluctant to play online. Technically that refers to the present day as well, as I no longer find the scene appealing in NBA 2K. To that point though, for a while I was far more enthusiastic about online play. I’d dabbled with it in the past, but was generally content to play franchise modes, or stick to the NBA side of MyCAREER. However, when Kenny invited Arcane and I to play 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 along with community members The X, Valor, and zzcoolj21, we were hooked. NLSC THRILLHO was born!

Although some improvements were made to 2K Pro-Am following its introduction in NBA 2K16, I’d still say that the original incarnation of the mode is one of the best. The novelty of it being a fresh new experience certainly contributes to my nostalgia for it, but many of the changes to MyCAREER and the online scene since then have taken it in a disappointing direction. Once again though, that first version of 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 was a blast, and that also carried over into NBA 2K17. Let’s take a look back…way back…

It’s easy to forget that NBA 2K didn’t originate the concept of online team play. In fact, the name for such a mode was popularised (if not established) by NBA Live, when Online Team Play was added to NBA Live 08 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 via a post-release patch. Because there was no career mode at the time, the original concept of Online Team Play involved using real NBA teams and rosters, with up to ten users on ten different consoles taking control of a single player. If there were less than five users per side, you could choose to switch control or remain locked to the player of your choice. It was fun, but I still preferred the solo experience of Dynasty.

The introduction of career modes prompted an inevitable change in online team play modes. While it had been fun to control real players, there was now appeal in taking your career mode player online to compete with and against other gamers’ avatars. The addition of the original Park in NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4/Xbox One also popularised this idea, though the style and structure (or lack thereof) of a streetball-oriented/pick-up game mode didn’t appeal to everyone. Park play was (and still is) very popular, so there was no need to replace it. However, there was a call for an online mode with NBA-oriented gameplay, while still utilising MyPLAYER avatars.

This brings us to the introduction of 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16. As you may recall, there was some controversy surrounding the “Pro-Am” moniker. The same year, NBA Live 16 introduced a similar online team play mode named LIVE Pro-Am. Ironically, NBA Live 16’s mode bore more similarities to Park gameplay than it did to 2K Pro-Am, though “Pro-Am” was a more fitting name as it did feature NBA players as well as career mode avatars. 2K unveiled 2K Pro-Am before EA could announce LIVE Pro-Am however, leaving many gamers to accuse NBA Live of stealing the name. This undermined the fact that LIVE Pro-Am was also a fine mode in its own right.

I can also confirm firsthand that anyone accusing EA of stealing the name has no idea what they’re talking about. In July 2015, I was actually at EA Tiburon, taking part in a community playtesting and feedback event. We were mostly playing the new LIVE Pro-Am mode, which was already going by that name. During the event, 2K made their announcement, which certainly bummed out the NBA Live developers and PR reps. Indeed, there were concerns that there might be leaks, which afforded 2K the opportunity to use “Pro-Am” for the name of their mode, and steal EA’s thunder. If it’s true, I’ll just say that that was low on both the part of the leaker, and Visual Concepts.

Controversy over a common term in their monikers aside however, both versions of Pro-Am were solid modes out of the gate. I did really enjoy LIVE Pro-Am during the event, and when I played it post-release as well, but I came to prefer 2K Pro-Am after being invited to play it in NBA 2K16. It actually encouraged me to play through to the end of the story in “Livin’ Da Dream“, so that I could upgrade my player and earn some Badges. From that first session of 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 though, I was hooked on the concept. It was fun to play with people I knew (and would come to know even better), and to figure out our roles as we came together as a squad.

Of course, that first version of 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 was somewhat primitive. Instead of loading into a team arena to ready up for a game, we had to meet in each other’s MyCOURT. There was less organisation with the squads themselves, since we could all create our own team and play with as many squads as we were invited to. This was actually a necessity, as it was impossible to play with a squad unless the person who created it was partaking in the session. As a result, we had several NLSC squads to play with, depending on who was available. Quite memorably, this set up an NLSC vs NLSC game when we had enough squad members online to run two teams!

That brings me to one of the great strengths of early iterations of 2K Pro-Am: the three user minimum. I realise it’s controversial as many online gamers don’t enjoy playing with AI Players, and it’s definitely a lot of fun to have a full squad. At the same time, we had many fun games running with just three or four of us, with our opponents often also having an AI Player or two filling in. Enforcing five users in 5v5 Pro-Am in newer games has forced many gamers to The Rec, where organised teams feast on randoms, and squads of three or four freeze out solo players. It’s one of the reasons I advocate for deeper matchmaking options, to get the best of both worlds.

Custom image uploads were also introduced along with 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16. We took full advantage of the functionality to put NLSC branding on our jerseys, courts, and anywhere else we could place the logo. We were readily able to do this for our multiple squads, as there was no need to level up before we could use the custom image options. The downside of this approach of course is that it’s very easy to abuse, and we saw some highly questionable uploads back in 2016. This ranged from shock humour and adult content to what appeared to be photos of classmates that were quite likely being used without consent. It was creepy and cringe-worthy to say the least!

Unsurprisingly, this led to custom image functionality being locked behind the new ranking system in NBA 2K17. While understandable, it was unfortunate as the game was never clear on how rankings were determined, or the requirements for unlocking custom images. Indeed, it unlocked quite randomly for us one session, so we quickly added our branding in case we lost access to it thereafter. This was the year that we settled on the name NLSC THRILLHO, which is obviously a reference to a classic episode of The Simpsons. We only needed the one squad in NBA 2K17, since the team owner no longer had to be part of the session for everyone else to play a game.

It wasn’t the only improvement that NBA 2K17’s 2K Pro-Am made over NBA 2K16. There was now detailed stat tracking that could be accessed in between games, rather than just displaying a few pre-game stats that seemingly weren’t updated frequently enough. We no longer had to meet up in one of our MyCOURTs, instead loading into the team arena where we could continue to shoot around while the game searched for an opponent. Although matchmaking wasn’t as deep as it could and should have been, and the ranking criteria wasn’t particularly clear, it was still effective in matching us up with opponents of a similar skill level, setting up games that were competitive.

What truly kept us hooked on 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 and NBA 2K17 though was the quality of the experience on the sticks. There are a couple of factors here. The first is that NBA 2K16 and NBA 2K17 were very well-designed games with great motion systems and other mechanics. This made everything feel good and satisfying, from shooting the ball to the way players moved around the virtual hardwood. The second is that those games predated hybrid builds/archetypes and a focus on meta gaming, with all of its Badges, boosts, and min-maxing. To this day, I don’t think that any of my avatars have been as fun to play with online as my NBA 2K17 MyPLAYER was.

I’m not alone in that regard, as NLSC THRILLHO tallied over 500 games as a squad in NBA 2K17. I personally played in exactly 500 of those contests, and I have fond memories of jumping on several times a week at the height of our enthusiasm for the mode. There were moments of frustration of course, as some of the patches tweaked the gameplay or introduced a bug that affected our enjoyment. By the end of the year though, the experience was fairly stable and consistent, and we were still playing at least once per week right up until the release of NBA 2K18. Sadly, this proved to be a turning point for 2K Pro-Am, at least for me and the members of NLSC THRILLHO.

In short, none of us really enjoyed NBA 2K18’s gameplay. Between the new motion system, game balance that relied heavily on Badges and creating a viable hybrid archetype, and fewer organised squads to play against – likely because they had the same criticisms – our weekly sessions came to an end much sooner. We were ready to try again in NBA 2K19, but the new requirement of five users in team Pro-Am games made it more difficult to organise sessions due to family and other commitments. The Rec proved to be an unsuitable alternative, even when we made up a majority of a squad. It was the untimely end of NLSC THRILLHO, and 2K Pro-Am’s golden age.

While there are other modes in NBA 2K that I enjoy, it was extremely unfortunate that the online team play scene was no longer fun and inviting. Even when we had a tough session with a few losses, there was always great camaraderie in the party chat, with running jokes and NBA discussion. I won’t go into all of the details, but I was also going through a rough time in 2016 and 2017, and I looked forward to catching up with friends every week and hitting the virtual hardwood together. We tried to replicate the experience with The Rec, and I headed there solo on occasion when I felt like a change of pace, but once again, it wasn’t as consistently fun as team Pro-Am.

Unfortunately, I don’t see Pro-Am or The Rec improving anytime soon. Valor, Kenny and I had some fun sessions of 3v3 Pro-Am in NBA 2K23, as NLSC THRILLHO had a brief revival. Beginning with Season 2 though, we soon encountered the familiar drawbacks with souped-up builds as our opponents figured out the meta and reliable exploits. The Rec remains toxic, as the design of player progression only discourages teamwork and sportsmanship. Capitulating to the demands of elitists has maintained the five user requirement in 5v5 play, even though those “elite” squads usually hit up The Rec to bully randoms. As I’ve often noted, 2K’s online scene is in terrible shape.

Disappointing as this may be, I’m still grateful for my fond memories with 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 and NBA 2K17. It allowed me to build some new friendships, and gave me something to look forward to every week during a rough patch. It was also a refreshingly new basketball gaming experience to enjoy, building upon a mode that I was intrigued by and occasionally played back in an older title. It facilitated content, and discussion on the NLSC Podcast. It’s given me insight into the online scene that I wouldn’t have had otherwise, and in turn provide feedback on how it might improve. Again, I’m not confident that it will actually improve, but I can at least speak on it.

I’d also like to give a shout out to Arcane, Kenny, The X, Valor, and zzcoolj21 for all the fun memories we created during our sessions. I appreciate the trust in allowing me to be our point guard and primary distributor. I’ve always been content to rack up assists rather than buckets, but that can become a selfish approach if one goes assist hunting. To that end, there’s also unselfishness in ceding the ballhandling duties to someone else, and trusting that they’ll hit you with passes and keep the ball moving. I always took pride in getting the guys the ball where they needed it, and joy in seeing them finish the play, even if I didn’t pick up the dime. But yes, I do love my assists!

Even though the online scene hasn’t evolved in a way that I like, I still commend Visual Concepts for expanding on the online team play concept with 2K Pro-Am. There’ll always be gamers who prefer Park play, as well as online head-to-head in MyTEAM or Play Now Online. The depth and variety of NBA 2K’s modes remains one of its biggest strengths, and while the games don’t always get everything right, they do manage to ably cater to differing tastes. I believe that 2K Pro-Am can be as fun as it was in NBA 2K16 and NBA 2K17 with the right changes, and I’ll continue to advocate for them. Regardless, I’ve been able to make great memories with the mode.

It’s easy to take online team play for granted now that it’s a staple feature. Just think of what an exciting and impressive innovation it is, though: up to ten different users on ten different consoles, each controlling a player and working as a team. There was a time when such a thing was unthinkable outside of a LAN party; now it’s feasible with people around the globe! Games have come a long way, not just from implementing modem and LAN play, but from those first forays into cooperative online multiplayer. NBA Live 16 had a good concept with LIVE Pro-Am, but 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 tipped off an even deeper experience that was a blast, and could be again in the future.