100 Fun Facts About NBA 2K

Which studio develops the NBA 2K series?

The Novato, California studio also makes WWE 2K and once made the NFL 2K games before EA locked up the football licence.

On which console did the original NBA 2K launch in November 1999?

Sega published the early games itself; 2K took over as publisher with NBA 2K6 in 2005.

Which player was on the cover of the very first NBA 2K?

He stayed on the box for five straight games before Ben Wallace replaced him on ESPN NBA 2K5.

Which company published the NBA 2K games before 2K took over in 2005?

Sega had bought Visual Concepts in 1999 and sold it to Take-Two six years later for about $24 million.

Which Detroit Pistons big man replaced Iverson on the cover of ESPN NBA 2K5?

The ESPN-branded era ended when EA signed an exclusive deal with the network the following year.

Which player appeared on the covers of both NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7?

He was with the Miami Heat at the time and later got a Legend Edition cover for NBA 2K18.

Which point guard fronted NBA 2K8?

Kevin Garnett followed on 2K9 and Kobe Bryant on 2K10.

Which retired legend was the cover athlete of NBA 2K11?

The game sold more than 5.5 million copies in under a year and is still many fans' pick for the best in the series.

How many career accomplishments must you recreate in NBA 2K11's Jordan Challenge mode?

Highlights include his 69-point game; finishing them unlocked a mode that let you play out Jordan's career starting in 2010-11.

NBA 2K11 was the first game in the series compatible with which peripheral?

It shipped on Wii, PSP and PS2 as well as PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

NBA 2K12 shipped with three different covers featuring Jordan, Larry Bird and which other legend?

The trio headlined the NBA's Greatest mode, which staged classic matchups with era-appropriate presentation.

Which rapper was credited as executive producer of NBA 2K13 and curated its soundtrack?

The same game introduced MyTeam, the card-collecting fantasy mode that became the series' money-maker.

Which mode, built around collecting player cards to build a fantasy squad, debuted in NBA 2K13?

It is where the game's virtual currency, VC, does most of its work.

Who was the cover athlete of NBA 2K14?

Kevin Durant took the box the following year on 2K15.

Which filmmaker wrote and directed NBA 2K16's MyCareer story, 'Livin' Da Dream'?

Your player was saddled with the name Frequency Vibrations, and critics found the story far too restrictive.

What was the nickname of the player character in NBA 2K16's MyCareer story?

'Freq' had a twin sister, an agent and a childhood friend named Vic Van Lier who caused most of the drama.

NBA 2K16 became the fastest-selling game in the series by shipping how many copies in its first week?

Its covers featured Stephen Curry, James Harden and Anthony Davis, with a Michael Jordan special edition.

Which Indiana Pacers star was the standard cover athlete of NBA 2K17?

Kobe Bryant fronted the Legend Edition, and Danilo Gallinari and Pau Gasol got regional covers.

Which social hub mode made its debut in NBA 2K18?

It was rebranded as The City on next-gen consoles with NBA 2K21.

NBA 2K18, with Kyrie Irving on the cover, was the first in the series released on which console?

Shaquille O'Neal fronted its Legend Edition.

Which Milwaukee Bucks star was on the cover of NBA 2K19?

The Greek Freak was the reigning All-NBA First Teamer and would win MVP that season.

NBA 2K20 was the first game in the series to include what?

Anthony Davis was on the standard cover and Dwyane Wade on the Legend Edition.

Which actors lent their voices to NBA 2K20's MyCareer story, produced by SpringHill Entertainment?

Mark Cuban and Ernie Hudson also appeared; the game's MyTeam trailer was pulled after critics called its casino-style mechanics tone-deaf.

Why did 2K quickly unlist a YouTube trailer for NBA 2K20's card-collecting mode?

Regulators in several countries were examining loot boxes at the time, and the pachinko-style reveal did not help.

Who was the PlayStation 4 / Xbox One standard cover athlete of NBA 2K21?

Zion Williamson fronted the PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X version and the late Kobe Bryant the Mamba Forever Edition.

Which rookie was the cover athlete of the next-generation edition of NBA 2K21?

It was the first NBA 2K released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

On next-gen consoles NBA 2K21 rebranded its social hub mode into what?

It added affiliations and a MyRep progression system, and the map got dramatically larger.

Which Dallas Mavericks star was on the standard cover of NBA 2K22?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant shared the 75th Anniversary Edition cover.

Which Phoenix Suns guard fronted the standard edition of NBA 2K23?

Michael Jordan was on the Michael Jordan and Championship editions, and J. Cole on the Dreamer Edition.

Which two WNBA legends shared the WNBA Edition cover of NBA 2K23?

Both were in their final seasons or close to it, and Sabrina Ionescu got the WNBA cover the next year.

Which rapper was on the cover of NBA 2K23's Dreamer Edition?

He was also a playable character, and had recently played pro ball in Africa's Basketball Africa League.

NBA 2K23 reintroduced which fan-favourite mode for the first time since NBA 2K11?

It drops the player into 1982 for the first challenge, with period-accurate broadcast filters.

Who was the cover athlete of the standard edition of NBA 2K24?

The game's Mamba Moments mode recreated key games from Bryant's career, in the spirit of the Jordan Challenge.

What is ProPLAY, introduced in NBA 2K24?

Previous games relied solely on motion capture; ProPLAY translates broadcast footage directly.

On release, NBA 2K24 became the second-worst-reviewed game on Steam behind which title?

Players blamed the ever-growing microtransactions and the price of levelling a MyPlayer.

Which Celtics forward and which Aces star shared cover duty for NBA 2K25?

Vince Carter got the Hall of Fame Edition after his 2024 enshrinement.

Who fronted NBA 2K26?

SGA came in as the reigning MVP and champion; Reese got the WNBA edition.

As of December 2018, roughly how many units had the NBA 2K series sold worldwide?

That made it the best-selling NBA video game series, well clear of EA's NBA Live.

The NBA 2K League is a joint venture between Take-Two Interactive and which organization?

It was announced in February 2017 and began play in 2018, with each team affiliated with an NBA franchise.

How many teams competed in the NBA 2K League's inaugural 2018 season?

Knicks Gaming won the first title, and first-round draft picks earned a base salary of $35,000.

Which team won the first NBA 2K League championship?

The New York affiliate beat the odds after a poor regular season, then the league went on an 18-month hiatus in 2024 before relaunching.

How much did Take-Two pay Sega for the NBA 2K development studio in 2005?

For the price of a mid-tier free agent, Take-Two got the studio that now prints money with every autumn release.

In which year was the studio behind NBA 2K founded?

Programmer Scott Patterson and brothers Greg and Jeff Thomas started it in California a decade before the first NBA 2K.

Which producer-singer curated the 30-track NBA 2K15 soundtrack, adding his own songs?

The playlist ranged from A Tribe Called Quest and Afrika Bambaataa to The Strokes and Snoop Dogg.

Which three DJs curated the NBA 2K16 soundtrack, each compiling his own playlist?

Its 50 songs were the most of any NBA 2K game to that point, split into six playlists including one of songs from earlier 2K titles.

Which actor co-curated NBA 2K17's soundtrack with Grimes, Imagine Dragons and Noah Shebib?

Noah '40' Shebib is best known as Drake's longtime producer, making 2K17's curator line-up a mix of film, indie pop, arena rock and rap.

Which rapper curated the NBA 2K19 soundtrack and placed five of his own songs in the game?

The same soundtrack ran from BROCKHAMPTON and Cardi B to Three Days Grace and Black Veil Brides.

How many songs did the next-gen NBA 2K21 soundtrack feature, most of them distributed by UnitedMasters?

Ten more tracks arrived by patch in February 2021, chosen from over 13,000 entries to the 2K Beats: The Search contest.

Which rapper premiered five songs from his album So Help Me God inside NBA 2K21 in November 2020?

The in-game premiere came a day before the album's release, one of the earliest examples of 2K acting as a music launch platform.

What did NBA 2K22 call its feature for dropping new songs into the soundtrack as they were released?

It was the first game in the series to keep updating its soundtrack after launch rather than shipping a fixed playlist.

Which John Tesh composition, a 1990s NBA broadcast theme, was added to NBA 2K24's 2K Beats soundtrack?

It also plays during the game's 1990s Jordan-era scenarios and in Mamba Moments.

NBA 2K24's soundtrack honoured the series' 25th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of which genre?

Its Season 1 update was a Def Jam partnership that added Warren G's 'This DJ' and Rick Ross's 'Hustlin''.

How many tracks did NBA 2K25 ship with at launch, with more added at the start of each Season?

Launch artists included Killer Mike, Schoolboy Q, Doechii and DJ Snake with Peso Pluma, with later Seasons bringing label-curated playlists from EMPIRE and Top Dawg Entertainment.

Which player-turned-rapper's track 'Champion' appeared on the NBA 2K11 soundtrack?

Game Informer called that soundtrack the best in any sports game of the year.

Which Irish rock band was named alongside Nas and Kanye West on the NBA 2K13 soundtrack in 2012?

Billboard praised the mix for stretching from indie rock (Phoenix, Dirty Projectors) to electro (Daft Punk, Justice) to rap.

What tagline did the NBA 2K series introduce with NBA 2K25?

The tagline debuted with NBA 2K25 in 2024, the series' 25th main installment, alongside several spinoffs.

NBA 2K9 was the first game in the series released on which platform?

The October 2008 release featured Kevin Garnett on the cover.

In 2008, 2K Sports partnered with which Chinese company to release an online NBA 2K for China?

The online game has since expanded to other markets across Asia.

Which studio developed NBA 2K Mobile, released for iOS and Android in November 2018?

Every main-series installment, by contrast, has been developed by Visual Concepts.

Which Lakers star was the cover athlete of the standard and deluxe editions of NBA 2K20?

Dwyane Wade fronted the Legend Edition of the September 2019 release.

NBA 2K (1999) fake announcers Bob Steele and Rod West spoofed the hosts of which show?

The names riffed on Bob Barker and Rod Roddy; the announcers were voiced by real Bay Area broadcasters Bob Fitzgerald and Rod Brooks and stuck around for four games.

Which Harlem street court was among those introduced in NBA 2K1?

NBA 2K1 was the first in the series with street courts and online play; Venice Beach and Mosswood arrived a year later in NBA 2K2.

Which career mode debuted in ESPN NBA Basketball, the only entry without '2K' in its name?

The 2003 game also gave every player a unique face for the first time; the career mode was later renamed MyPlayer and then MyCareer.

Which Hall of Famer shared the ESPN NBA 2K5 commentary booth with Bob Fitzgerald?

Stuart Scott presented and Michele Tafoya worked the sideline, the full ESPN package before the network signed an exclusive deal with EA.

What set NBA 2K6's soundtrack apart from the rest of the series?

The Roots, Common, Aesop Rock and Redman were among the contributors, and the tracks were released on CD as 2K6: The Tracks.

Which sideline reporter worked NBA 2K6 through 2K8 with Kevin Harlan and Kenny Smith?

The trio mirrored TNT's real broadcast team; Kenny Smith left the booth after NBA 2K8 but returned years later on the in-game studio show.

NBA 2K7 was a launch title for which console?

That version made players shoot free throws by moving the controller, and opponents could shake theirs to rattle the shooter's screen.

Which All-Star Weekend event became a playable mode in NBA 2K8?

Reviewers loved the contest but hated the new 'lock-on' defense, which let slow big men stick to quick guards.

Who replaced Cheryl Miller as the sideline reporter starting with NBA 2K11?

She held the job for years before David Aldridge took over in NBA 2K17's expanded 11-voice broadcast roster.

Who was the cover athlete of the downloadable NBA 2K10 Draft Combine?

The 2009 downloadable let you run pre-draft drills with a created player and carry him into the main game's new MyPlayer mode.

Which future coach made his debut as lead analyst in NBA 2K11's commentary booth?

He joined Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg, and the trio stayed together through NBA 2K15 before Greg Anthony took his chair.

Why were the 2011 draft rookies missing from NBA 2K12 at launch?

Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard only appeared once downloadable rosters arrived after the labour dispute ended.

NBA 2K13 is the only game in the series released on which console?

It was a North American launch title for Nintendo's console, and also the last NBA 2K on the Wii and PSP.

Which Bulls great was left out of NBA 2K13 over likeness rights until fans complained?

The same game quietly dropped Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, two of the legends from NBA 2K12.

NBA 2K13 featured the 2012 Team USA alongside the US Olympic team from which year?

Pitting the Dream Team against the London squad was the executive producer's idea, settling a barbershop argument on a console.

Which league's teams joined NBA 2K14 under an exclusive deal signed in July 2013?

Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow and Maccabi Tel Aviv stayed in the series until the licence lapsed ahead of NBA 2K18.

NBA 2K14's Path to Greatness let its star leave Miami for which team before going home?

The scripted alternate future ran through 2019-20 and chased seven rings; the mode was left off the PS4 and Xbox One versions entirely.

Which coach mentors your MyPlayer with real-time praise or criticism in NBA 2K15?

NBA 2K15 also let you scan your own face into the game in about 30 seconds, with famously mixed results.

Who was the lone cover athlete on French copies of NBA 2K16?

Germany got Dennis Schröder and Spain got the Gasol brothers, giving the game seven covers and eight cover athletes in all.

NBA 2K17's MyCareer story was written by Aaron Covington, scriptwriter of which 2015 film?

Comedian Hannibal Buress also appeared in the story, a year after Spike Lee's divisive 'Livin' Da Dream' had critics begging for a lighter touch.

Which player did gameplay director Mike Wang say was hardest to balance in NBA 2K16?

The engine penalised 'bad' shots for 99.9% of the league, so 2K ran a 30-hour experiment in May 2016 that let him shoot like himself.

NBA 2K18's cover was redone after its athlete was traded away from which team?

The game shipped with a second cover showing him in green, and a Nike Connect edition put Kevin Durant on the box too.

Which Raptor was the cover athlete on the Canadian edition of NBA 2K18?

Its companion app, MyNBA2K18, put Kristaps Porziņģis on the cover, a reward for being the year's breakout star.

In NBA 2K18's MyCareer, your player had quit basketball to pursue what career?

Kotaku skewered the premise: you return to the league by winning a few street games, then walk across a mall-like hub to get a haircut.

Who fronted NBA 2K19 in Australia and New Zealand?

The Melbourne-born 76er was the reigning Rookie of the Year; Bill Simmons joined the guest commentary roster the same year.

Which Marvel actor headlined NBA 2K19's MyCareer story 'The Way Back'?

Haley Joel Osment and Michael Rapaport co-starred, and the story's China chapter featured authentic CBA commentary in Mandarin.

NBA 2K20 arrived in November 2019 on which cloud gaming platform?

The platform launched that month and was shut down in January 2023, outliving only a few NBA 2K server cycles.

Why does NBA 2K20's standard cover athlete wear a generic jersey?

The covers were revealed on July 1, 2019, days before the blockbuster deal with New Orleans could formally close.

On PS5 and Xbox Series X, NBA 2K21 merged its two franchise modes into what?

The role-playing trimmings that had been locked to MyGM became toggles, and G League games became playable for the first time.

The NBA 2K21 edition released in April 2021 for iPhone was exclusive to which service?

Arcade Editions have followed every autumn since, reaching Apple TV and Mac as well as iPhone.

Who became the first WNBA player on an NBA 2K cover with NBA 2K22?

Her WNBA 25th Anniversary Edition was one of six covers that year, the most the series had ever shipped.

What did NBA 2K24 allow for the first time in the series, on PS5 and Xbox Series X only?

It also added more than 100 new dribble moves triggered by stick flicks instead of complex inputs.

Which paid DLC mode was added to NBA 2K25 in its Season 2 update?

The same game's PC version finally matched the console feature set, and Season 3 added Easy Anti-Cheat to fight hackers.

Which 2025 Hall of Fame inductee fronted NBA 2K26's Superstar edition?

He was announced the day after the WNBA cover, completing a three-athlete line-up for the 27th main installment.

What is NBA 2K26's most expensive edition, with all three cover athletes, called?

NBA 2K26 also launched on the Nintendo Switch 2, the series' first new Nintendo platform since the original Switch in 2017.

Which esports organization became the NBA 2K League's first team outside North America?

It joined alongside Charlotte in 2020 to make 23 teams; Mexico's Dux Gaming and Australia's NBL Oz Gaming followed.

Which YouTuber was named honorary commissioner when the NBA 2K League relaunched in 2025?

Only six of the previous 25 franchises returned, and the new format opened a ladder to anyone who owned a copy of the game.

Which studio developed the arcade spin-off NBA Playgrounds and its 2K-published sequel?

The NBA Jam-style game sold 500,000 copies in two months; the sequel added '2K' to its name when 2K picked up publishing.

Which free game did early NBA Playgrounds Switch buyers get over the missing online mode?

Online play was promised within days of the May 2017 launch and still wasn't working two weeks later.

Visual Concepts started in a small Novato office above what kind of business?

Staff who left in 1994 founded Tiburon, the studio that went on to make EA's Madden games, so both basketball and football giants trace back to that office.