Do not get me wrong, as a basketball fan who embraced the culture for a wee lad and cherishes road basketball memories from back home, I’m still somewhat in awe of how well the game has translated into video game form (I said as much in my 2K MT review). And that does not only come in the player likenesses, character creation tools, or the broadcast-style demonstration; it is a matter of the core gameplay, also. Dribble moves with the ideal pole offer almost full control of ball handling. It may feel a bit cluttered using so many actions mapped to marginally different motions on just one rod, as errant inputs may occasionally have you pull on a pump-fake rather than the crossover you intended. But if you can master a few key moves, you’ll be at an advantage for opportunities to drive to the basket or mitigate shot . The same holds for making the right moves in the post-game to either get beneath defenders or get positioning over them. All of these are staples of NBA 2K for quite a while.

The large new addition in terms of crime is that the discretionary Pro Stick shooting. Ahead of 2K21, shooting would either be carried out by holding down Square, X, or the right stick and time your discharge at the height of your jump, signaled by a shot meter overhead. With Guru Stick shooting empowered, you hold the right stick down without having to worry about release timing and rather concentrate on precise pole alignment in line with the shot meter before your Buy NBA 2K21 MT player releases the shooter. As soon as it’s a lot easier to just use square or X for scoring from the paint, Guru Stick is a workable new alternative for jump shots, especially in scenarios when lag or latency can throw away traditional-style launch timing.