Me and my friend who love NBA history have a few questions about the selections of the classic teams in NBA 2K and since the classic teams have mostly stayed the same for the past few years this applies to previous editions of NBA 2K as well as 2K21:
Biggest complaint is why is there so few 1950s/1960s/1970s classic teams?
-1967 76ers (one of the greatest teams ever) has never been represented in 2K -1967 runner up Golden State Warriors (Rick Barry, Nate Thurmond) also would have been nice -1960 Celtics with arguably a better roster than the 1965 version, never been represented in 2K -1960s Cincinnati Royals team with prime Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas would have been nice -No 1950s teams (no Mikan, Schayes, Pettit, Arizin led teams etc) have ever been represented in 2K -None of the 1970s championship Celtics team (led by Hondo and Cowens) has ever been represented in 2K. -None of the Unseld led 1970s Bullets teams which went to 4 Finals in the 70s have ever been represented in 2K -A 1970s Bulls team (with Bob Love, Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier etc) would have been nice -A 1970s Suns team (Connie Hawkins, Paul Westphal, Walter Davis etc) would have been nice -1970s Sonics team (Jack Sikma, Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams etc) -1977 Blazers (Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas etc) – especially odd since the runner up 1977 76ers is always included -NO ABA teams are represented. ABA is part of NBA history (they merged) so I think ABA teams should get some representation. Plus when you have Euroleague and WNBA teams on here I think definitely historical ABA teams deserve a fair shake considering it’s actually part of the NBA. I think one of the 1970s Pacers teams that’s part of that dynasty (Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, Freddie Lewis, George McGinnis) should be represented. Also that powerhouse 1975 Kentucky Colonels team (Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel) should be on here. And a 1970s Nets team as well led by Dr J. They deserve to be on here they were part of NBA history. Then, some questions about the existing classic teams -Why the 1985 Bucks and not the 1983 version with Marques Johnson added? -Why so many non championship Chicago Bulls teams? Is there that many people that want to play as rookie MJ? -Why is the 1998 Spurs on here but not the championship 1999 version? -Why is the 1998 Lakers on here but not the championship 2000 version? -Why is the 1994 Nuggets on here but not the arguably more fun to play 1988 version with Alex English and Fat Lever? or the post ABA 1977 version with Dan Issel, David Thompson, Mack Calvin and Bobby Jones? That was a loaded Nuggets team. -Where is the 1983 76ers (Dr J, Moses)??? Or any 80s version of the 76ers? That team went to 3 Finals in that decade! I remember they used to have the 1985 version because they thought they could get Charles Barkley in but they couldn’t and went with the watered down version of that team, but that’s at least betting than omitting that team entirely! -Odd selection of teams. what’s so special about the 2014 Pacers, 2013 Grizzlies, 2007 Wizards, 1995 Knicks, 2003 Mavs, 2010 Blazers, 2003 Suns?
It’s especially odd when you consider they have most of the players to construct these classic teams, they are all in the all-time team versions, but for those of us who want to play with the actual classic team, we have to make a custom roster and we still miss most of the role players that played there. So it’s not the same. Just a huge head scratcher.
It’s weird that a lot non championship, non Finals teams are on here but a huge chunk of the 50s/60s/70s championship teams are missing.
If you were to ask me the top 5 teams I would most want to add to the NBA 2K roster here are my picks:
Michael Jordan – 1996 Bulls (Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman) vs 1996 Sonics (Gary Payton)
Karl Malone – 1998 Jazz (John Stockton) vs 1998 Lakers (Shaq, Kobe Bryant)
John Stockton – 1998 Jazz (Karl Malone) vs 1998 Spurs (David Robinson, Tim Duncan)
How 2K12 chose their 15 players is interesting to me – I mean they mostly got it right except for the off inclusion of Patrick Ewing who I don’t think anybody besides hardcore Knicks fans would really include as a top 15 player all time. Using the 1985 76ers is also an odd inclusion but it’s most likely because they wanted to get Charles Barkley in (but eventually couldn’t due to licensing issues) – the 1983 version is almost better in every way.
So here’s what I would change to get it up to speed to 2019 (and assuming I have all the licenses of every NBA legend including notoriously Charles Barkley who has been reluctant to include himself in NBA games for years)
Bill Russell – 1960 Celtics (Sam Jones, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Sharman) vs 1960 Hawks (Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan) – I chose the 1960 team because it gives us Cousy and Sharman and we get to see the perennially underrated Bob Pettit as well
Oscar Robertson – 1971 Bucks (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Dandridge) vs 1971 Hawks (Pete Maravich) – I have no problems with keeping this matchup the same
Wilt Chamberlain – 1967 76ers (Chet Walker, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham) vs 1967 Warriors (Rick Barry, Nate Thurmond) – not only is this Wilt’s best team but we get a whopping 5 new HOFers because of it! Have no idea why 2K didn’t use this team in 2K12.
Jerry West – 1970 Lakers (Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Wilt Chamberlain) vs 1970 Knicks (Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Dave Debusschere, Bill Bradley) – Why not the 1972 version? because I want to keep Elgin Baylor that’s why
Dr J – 1983 76ers (Moses Malone, Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks) vs 1983 Bucks (Sidney Moncrief, Bob Lanier, Marques Johnson) – The 1983 version is strictly better than the 1985 version and gives us Bobby Jones as well. Same with the Bucks we get 2 extra HOFers there too.
Larry Bird – 1986 Celtics (Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, Bill Walton) vs 1986 Rockets (Hakeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson) – changing the Hawks to the Rockets, sorry Dominique and sorry Hakeem you’re not headlining a spot anymore
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 1985 Lakers (Magic Johnson, Bob McAdoo, Jamaal Wilkes) vs 1985 Celtics (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson) – It makes sense for this to be the 1985 Lakers because it’s Kareem’s favorite Showtime team and the one he won Finals MVP with, and also gets us McAdoo and Wilkes as well.
Magic Johnson – 1988 Lakers (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy) vs 1988 Pistons (Isiah Thomas, Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars, Adrian Dantley) – Sorry Isiah I demoted you from headline status but you still get a secondary role as Magic’s opponent
Michael Jordan – 1993 Bulls (Scottie Pippen) vs 1993 Suns (Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson) – This is when MJ was at his peak – and we just gotta include a Barkley team so this is it
Karl Malone – 1998 Jazz (John Stockton) vs 1998 Spurs (David Robinson, Tim Duncan) – keeping this one more or less as is
Removed Patrick Ewing, demoted Hakeem, Isiah, Stockton and Pippen to make way for:
11. John Havlicek – 1976 Celtics (Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White) vs 1976 Bullets (Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, Dave Bing) – we get a whopping 5 new HOFers to play with in this matchup!
12. Shaq – 2001 Lakers (Kobe Bryant) vs 2001 76ers (Allen Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo) – this is clearly the best team of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers and we get the ever popular Iverson here as well
13. Kobe Bryant – 2008 Lakers (Pau Gasol) vs 2008 Celtics (Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo) – we get an extra 5 HoFers added in this matchup as well
14. Lebron James – 2013 Heat (Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen) vs 2013 Spurs (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard) – we get probably the best matchup between the two leading dynasties of the era and a whopping 8 HoFers playing in this matchup!
15. Stephen Curry – 2018 Warriors (Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green) vs 2018 Rockets (James Harden, Chris Paul) – the Rockets were the toughest matchup for the Warriors Dynasty (sorry Cavs) and this way we get a good 6 HoFers out of it. Sorry KD I put Curry as the headliner because he was the de facto leader of the dynasty.
That’s the 15 teams I would choose for the next ‘Legends’ showcase I think these are better choices and add considerably more depth and more HoF talent for players to play with
Yeah.. thats alot of money spent. Especially on phone bills and parking tickets. Yikes. I usually buy all my computer & guitar stuff and Magic physical cards on eBay so u have an idea of how much I spent there. And everything else on Amazon.
But yeah… 265 Steam games is way overkill. 60+ PS3/PS4 games is overkill. 1000+ magic cards, both physical and online, are overkill. PS Vita/DS games i never play are overkill. I gotta stop spending so much on things I don’t use…
One thing I want to say about me, is that I’m not afraid to share my opinions online, and I’m not afraid of people judging me. That may be the most un-korean thing about me, but I don’t care. I’m not Korean. I’m a mix of Korean thinking and Western thinking. I don’t want to cause any conflict or offend anyone, but since I tend to use my Facebook as my diary to write down my thoughts, some people take issue over that. The thing is I don’t only want to post “happy” things on my Facebook because thats not an accurate depiction of my life. Facebook tracks my life at certain moments in time, and certainly I’m not happy all the time. I want to remember all my emotions, happy, sad, depressed, lonely, etc. so that’s why I write everything online. That’s why I would rather have some controversial posts than to have it be devoid of nothing at all. And despite what some people say, Facebook is not a “public” place. It’s a private place! It’s limited to a circle of people that you let in. It’s not a public blog like this, where everyone and anyone can see it. Facebook posts are private to your friends only unless you make it public. So.. if some people take issue with the fact that I’m brutally honest with my posts, then I’m fine with that, because those people who matter, won’t mind, and those who mind, won’t matter.
All time lakers/celtics vs All time non lakers/celtics
Since the Lakers/Celtics have won approximately half of all the NBA championships I’ve decided to pit the all time combined Lakers/Celtics team against the all time non lakers/celtics players, and the matchup is pretty even according to my NBA 2K simulation runs.. each team wins about half the time against each other. Take a look here:
All Time Lakers-Celtics:
Magic/West
Kobe/Havlicek
Bird/Baylor
Russell/Mchale
Kareem/Shaq
All Time Non-Lakers-Celtics:
Oscar/Isiah
Jordan/Wade
Lebron/Erving
Karl/Duncan
Hakeem/Moses
Nintendo EAD is the greatest video game developer ever
Creation: 1983
Country: Japan
Known for: Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, Kirby, Metroid, F-Zero, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Wii, Fire Emblem
Surprised? Don’t be. Nintendo EAD is Nintendo. The main reason for Nintendo’s success and dominance, especially since the Gamecube, is because of the strength of its first party games. The Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, Wii, Kirby, Fire Emblem, Metroid franchises all come from this developer. Their influence cannot be understated – the strength of Nintendo’s first party games influenced a massive amount of developers and continue to be the main reason why Nintendo sells consoles. They are the greatest video game developer of all time.
Capcom is well known for its fighting and horror games
Creation: 1983
Country: Japan
Known for: Megaman, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, Devil May Cry
Capcom’s ability to remain relevant for three decades has really established why its such a great developer. From the Megaman properties, a series that set a standard for level design, to the Resident Evil series, another series that set a standard for horror games, to the Street Fighter series, a series that set a standard for fighting games, Capcom’s properties are among the most influential of all time.
Creation: 1972
Country: America
Known for: Pong, Centipede, Yar’s Revenge, Asteroids, Breakout, Missile Command
Atari was the first video game developer ever, so its influence cannot be understated. From the development of Pong way back in 1972, to its current status as a publisher, and the first successful video game console in history, the Atari 2600, Atari basically created the foundations for Nintendo and other video game companies to beat.
Konami was one of the most dominant video game developers ever
Creation: 1969
Country: Japan
Known for: Contra, Castlevania, Metal Gear, Frogger, Silent Hill, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dance Dance Revolution
We can thank Japan for producing some of the most well known and successful video game franchises ever, with Konami as one of the top developers. Konami dominated with franchises like Contra, Castlevania, Metal Gear and Frogger and continues to dominate the arcade market with Dance dance revolution. It produced some of the most successful games of all time.
Square Enix is well known for its influential JRPG games
Creation: 1975
Country: Japan
Known for: Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Star Ocean, Mana series
Square Enix is well known as one of the most influential RPG developers of all time, with such franchises as Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest. These games defined a standard for Japanese role playing games. Its roots go back to the creation of Enix (Dragon Quest, Star Ocean, etc), and the company Squaresoft, which produced such classics as Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana.
iD software produced such influential games as Commander Keen and Doom
Creation: 1991
Country: America
Known for: Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, RAGE
iD Software created the most influential video game ever, Doom, which set a standard for all FPS’s since. It also created such other influential games as Commander Keen, the first smooth side scrolling platformer for PCs, Wolfenstein 3D, which paved the way for Doom, and Quake, which refined multiplayer gaming in the FPS genre.
Activision was the first independent video game developer ever
Creation: 1979
Country: America
Known for: Pitfall, River Raid, MechWarrior, Interstate
Activision was the first independent video game developer and publisher ever, and created a lasting influence, from its Atari days with games like Pitfall to the present day with its status as a publisher for various other video game developers like Infinity Ward, Neversoft, Harmonix etc Its success prompted other video game developers to start publishing its own games as well.
Namco has been one of the most consistently successful developers ever
Creation: 1955
Country: Japan
Known for: Pac-man, Galaga, Pole Position, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Ridge Racer
A powerhouse developer since the Atari days, with games such as Pac-man, Galaga, Pole Position and Dig Dug, to modern day influential games like Tekken and Soul Calibur, Namco has been going strong for many many years, and as a result it’s one of the most influential game developers ever.
Sega brought joy to millions of people around the world with titles like Sonic the Hedgehog
Creation: 1960
Country: Japan
Known for: Sonic the Hedgehog, Golden Axe, Phantasy Star, Virtua Fighter, Yakuza
A company that dominated the home console market in early 90s, Sega is synonymous with its mascot Sonic the Hedgehog, although the studio did develop numerous other titles for its gaming consoles such as Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Phantasy Star, etc. Sega’s influence both as a video game developer and console maker is still felt today.
Taito developed some of the most influential arcade games of all time
Creation: 1953
Country: Japan
Known for: Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Cooking Mama
Taito created some of the most popular arcade games of the late 70s and early 80s, such as Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble (aka Bust a Move) and Arkanoid, and continues today with its Cooking Mama series
Rockstar is well known of its Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne series
Creation: 1998
Country: America
Known for: Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, Max Payne, Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar influenced a number of developers with its Grand Theft Auto series, also one of the best selling video game series of all time. Not many video game publishers can claim that they beat blockbuster movie openings, but Rockstar can claim it. It’s mastery of the open world genre, with games such as Grand Theft Auto, L.A Noire, Red Dead Redemption brings a new standard that other developers strive to follow.
Blizzard made some of the most addictive multiplayer games of all time
Creation: 1991
Country: America
Known for: Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch
No surprise to see Blizzard on here. They made/make some of the most addictive multiplayer games of all time. They set the standard for real time strategy games with Warcraft and Starcraft series, which are still played today, the influential RPG game Diablo series, and of course the most popular MMORPG of all time, World of Warcraft.
Valve created the influential Half Life and Counter Strike games
Creation: 1996
Country: America
Known for: Half Life, Portal, Counter Strike, Left 4 Dead
Another video game developer well known for its mastery of multiplayer games is Valve. They created the landmark Half life and Half life 2, both of which set standards for FPS games, then the innovative puzzle games Portal and Portal 2, along with the popular multiplayer standards Counterstrike and Left 4 Dead. They also developed and created the Steam platform, which many game developers use these days to distribute their games.
Creation: 1987
Country: America
Known for: The Sims, SimCity, Spore
Well known for their dominance in the simulation genre, Maxis created the most popular PC franchise of all time, The Sims, along with other influential titles such as SimCity and Spore. Many of their early simulation games were very innovative as well, such as SimAnt, SimFarm, SimEarth, SimLife, SimTower, SimIsle and SimHealth.
Epic Games was a powerhouse developer back in the 90s
Creation: 1991
Country: America
Known for: Gears of War, Jazz Jackrabbit, Unreal Tournament, Fortnite
A powerhouse developer back in the DOS days, Epic Games created such DOS classics as Jazz Jackrabbit, One Must Fall, Unreal Tournament, Overkill, Jill of the Jungle, Kiloblaster, before being known now for the developer of the Fortnite, Gears of War series and the Unreal Engine which is used in a variety of other games.
LucasArts created some of the most memorable games ever
Creation: 1982
Country: America
Known for: Star Wars games, Indiana Jones games, Monkey Island series
LucasArts has created a number of memorable games in almost every genre including the Monkey Island series, Knights of the Old Republic series, Rogue Squadron series, Jedi Knight series, Battlefront series, and they consistently turn up innovative titles for their Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.
Bioware created some of the greatest storytelling RPGs of all time
Creation: 1995
Country: Canada
Known for: Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Anthem
Bioware is one of the most influential RPG makers of all time. Bioware has great storytelling in such classic titles as Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and I believe this has influenced other RPGs a great deal.
Creation: 1985
Country: UK
Known for: Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Kinect Sports, BattleToads, Killer Instinct
Rare, now owned by Microsoft, used to make some of the greatest Nintendo games of all time. Donkey Kong country, Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye 007, Killer Instinct, etc all boosted the Nintendo 64 sales. Its arguable that without Rare, the Nintendo 64 wouldn’t have sold many units at all. Now, they make the Kinect series of games for Microsoft.
Creation: 1983
Country: Canada
Known for: Need for Speed, FIFA, NBA Live, NCAA, NHL, NFL
It’s EA’s biggest studio, and develops the Need for Speed series, as well as the majority of the EA Sports games, including the FIFA, NBA Live and NHL series. These series have influenced many sports games since their time, and many have pretty much a monopoly in their sports game genre.
Bethesda Game Studios created the popular Elder Scrolls series
Creation: 2001
Country: America
Known for: Elder Scrolls, Fallout
Along with Bioware, two of the great Western RPG makers, Bethesda’s strength is in the vastness of its worlds rather than storytelling like Bioware. The hundreds of hours you can sink into games like Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout 3 just give you an idea of how much time the developers put into each game.
Ubisoft is well known for their open world and stealth world titles
Creation: 1997
Country: Canada
Known for: Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia, Tom Clancy, Far Cry, Watch Dogs
The biggest studio of Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal pumps out their biggest hits. The Assassins Creed series and Far Cry series have set standards for open world games in their breadth and visual beauty. The Tom Clancy series were well received stealth focused games, and Prince of Persia was one of the pioneering platformer puzzle games.
Bungie is well known for its Halo and Destiny series
Creation: 1991
Country: America
Known for: Marathon, Halo, Destiny
The savior of Microsoft’s Xbox game console, Bungie started off on the MacOS platform with the Marathon FPS games before being bought by Microsoft, and coming into prominence with the Halo series. Now, Bungie makes most of its revenue from its Destiny game series.
2K Sports makes some of the best selling sports games of all time
Creation: 2005
Country: America
Known for: MLB series, NBA 2K, NHL 2K, WWE 2K
The biggest studio of 2K Games, 2K Sports developed some of the most critically acclaimed and greatest sports franchises ever, with the standard for Baseball, Basketball, Hockey and Wrestling being set by the MLB, NBA, NHL and WWE series respectively.
Game Freak is the main developer of the hugely successful Pokemon series
Creation: 1989
Country: Japan
Known for: Pokemon
Game Freak only develops one video game series: Pokemon, but its one of the most popular video game series of all time, and is one of Nintendo’s most profitable divisions.
Naughty Dog developed some of the most well acclaimed games of its era
Creation: 1984
Country: America
Known for: Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, Last of Us
Naughty Dog focuses on quality over quantity, and its shows. Almost all of its games are well acclaimed games focusing on pushing the limits of the console it was developed for, and a focus on innovative story telling.
Honorable mentions:
-Insomniac Games (Spyro the Dragon, Resistance, Ratchet & Clank)
-Harmonix (Karaoke Revolution, Guitar Hero, Rock Band)
-Atlus (Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, Catherine)
-Infinity Ward (Call of Duty)
-Gearbox Software (Brothers in Arms, Duke Nukem, Borderlands)
-Obsidian Entertainment (Knights of Old Republic II, Fallout New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2)
