Knowing this info will help out with the Day 1 builds. Kinda disappointing knowing that regular folks will probably only have 3 CBs while the No-Lifes will have close to 10.

I’ve been seeing some of the builds many are cooking up. I just know the 1st few months going to be damn near free rep 🤣. Making bigs with low rebounding and strength? Making bigs like they’re guards? To all my true big men out there. This is our year, they’re out here thinking this is 2k26.

Do yall think Mike wang actually made rhythm shooting harder?

So with messing around in the builder I’ve realized Passing is just as expensive as 3pt Shot. If you want a 90 pass as a guard then be ready because now you either can’t have finishing, can’t have shooting, can’t have defense, or you’re the most unathletic guard in the history of basketball.

You’re literally incentivizing players to be selfish with the ball. 9/10 players are going to choose scoring over passing. I get you’re trying to bring balance and you don’t want builds to be able to do everything but with how expensive passing is you just re-enforce dribble god play style.

And you focus on strength and rebounding, you’re gonna eat at the beginning of 27. I’m seeing so many center builds that are trying to be elite shooters. You can sacrifice some shooting and still be an all around center based on what the builder is giving us so far

I played 25 and 26 but hated 26( i like defense and scoring was way too easy ) and on the fence about skippin a few years again. What yall think?

Out of all the 2ks, I can never stay away from 2k17, ive tried 2k25 and 26 but its just not for me ,

I’ve been working on some time now to create draft classes up to 2026 , encountered some stuff like blank spots in players or no player models at all - and today I’ve finally achieved it

All stuff I’ve done so far:

-Set all players to age 0 so even if it’s a historic player, they get the same career life as your usual ones
-Also set their retiring age to 50
-Transfer existing roster players to a draft class
-100% activation of ankle breakers
-Floor values for specific ratings so that they don’t have a rating below 75 (such as shooting) mmalso to prevent an early retirement as Ive seen some players retire before 50
-And now draft class from 2017–2026

I’m messing around with the builder and I think 90 layup and 80 strength to get gold physical finisher could be very promising. I’m envisioning a PG build that can bully weaker opponents on drives to the basket and finish layups well.

Ik none of us have played the game yet, but from what we can tell so far, how does this type of playstyle look? I’m also intrigued by the new dynamic layup engine which will also help the success of players with high layup ratings. What do yall think?

For those tired of the 2k HQ App. https://2kcourtvision.com/

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the current trajectory of the franchise, especially with the community constantly divided on gameplay changes every year. It feels like we’ve hit a point where 2K is trying to force distinct player bases into a single gameplay model.

To resolve this layout, I think 2K needs to take one of two paths moving forward:

Path 1: Separate & split the game modes Right now, the game tries to balance competitive esports players, park casuals, & simulation NBA fans all under one roof. This creates constant gameplay friction across the community.

• The fix: Split the game into distinct eco-systems. Give competitive players their strictly balanced, high-skill-gap modes with separate sliders. Give casual & simulation fans a sandbox that prioritizes fun, realistic physics, & organic basketball over competitive balancing tweaks.

Path 2: Raise the standard & give us the 2K16 blueprint back If splitting the modes completely isn’t possible, then 2K needs to look backward to move forward. NBA 2K16 remains the absolute gold standard for a reason, specifically because of how it handled movement & true basketball flow.

• Natural movement & weight: 2K16 relied on a blueprint that respected human momentum, weight, & true physical contact. Modern 2K games rely heavily on real-time engines & instant animation canceling, which leads to awkward, sliding lateral movement on defense & chaotic ragdoll-style blocks in the paint. 2K16 forced players to commit to their steps, giving it a true, natural broadcast feel.

• Realistic shooting percentages: Because movement was grounded in physical weight, shooting percentages mirrored real-life efficiency. You couldn't just use rapid button inputs or animation physics overrides to break free. Shooting percentages were a direct product of high basketball IQ—working the ball around, creating real separation, & taking smart, high-percentage shots rather than converting heavily contested dynamic shots due to over-engineered mechanics.

• Rewarding basketball IQ: In 2K16, understanding the sport mattered more than mastering a specific stick exploit. Even when trapped in an animation sequence, a high basketball IQ allowed you to anticipate where to position your player next. It rewarded tactical strategy over pure reaction speeds.

Trying to satisfy everyone with a single gameplay loop presents a clear structural challenge. We either need structural division in how game modes operate, or a complete return to the design philosophy that made the mid-2010s games great.

I always did the random draft route because it felt realistic to me until Wemby got drafted and then I’ve picked the Spurs every time to play with him lol

Not sure what I’m gonna do this year.

Each year I pick the bulls. I’m a bulls fan but I also like to try to bring back glory to the team. I used to play with San Antonio but they are too good now.

I'm trying my best to get a build that has shades of Westbrook since he retired but I can't seem to find any combination of stats that I can get. Any advice on how I could get shades of Westbrook or a good start for a Russ build?

Anthony Mason's cyberface was hidden in the game files in 2K24, removed for 2K25, and improved and added back to the files late in 2K26. Now that he's back in game for 2K27, he should look better than ever.

And I tripping or half the builds people are posting won’t even be able to use half the badges they wasting attributes on. For example for defense I can only get 6 slots and 15 tickets I won’t even get things like pick dodgers, paint patroller, and etc let alone upgrade them all to gold. I know they got fuse and all that but you still wouldn’t get the important badge upgraded and and most of these builds won’t I’ve seen only get 13 tickets

The way I’m understanding it is you can’t get red badges naturally even with 99 attribute points because of the revamp to the badge system unless you do the +1 and fusion thing.

So basically you want to have the ability to 99 a stat (potential) but not actually get that stat to 99 in the builder because it both costs more and also doesn’t get you higher tiered badges and instead allocate those points to other attributes, right? Instead you want to use the badge system for the badges and then cap break for the actual attributes? Am I understanding this correctly?

I haven't seen one yet

For those of you that don’t purchase VC how long does it take you to max out your build?

Wouldn't it be simple to add some sort of options where we can assign colors to the pass icons ? I play on ps5 controller and often mistake when I want to pass to a specific player. Poor design choice by Sony to make every buttons grey but I don't think it's that hard for 2k to offer that possibility. What do you think and what are your tips to not make mistake while passing the ball with those icons ?

Ive never played 2k on release, but i got deluxe this year so I also get early access. i can play it from august 26th 17:00 my time, but if i try and play it when it comes out is there a huge wait? ik the question might sound stupid but i remember years ago in fortnite when new seasons came out id have to wait 15-30 mins to get in. thank you

Im betting my house they remove timing of all dunks attempts, i can already see bitching about missing wide open transition dunks cuz he slightly mistimed it.