NBA 2K27 Review: Decent, But Not Quite a Slam Dunk

Every year, I approach NBA 2K with roughly the same mixture of excitement and suspicion. I love basketball, I love sports games, and when NBA 2K is firing on all cylinders, nothing else comes close to recreating the sport. The problem is that being an annual 2K player also means knowing exactly what you are signing yourself up for.

There will be new features, promises of improved gameplay, and a MyCAREER mode that inevitably consumes far more of my life than I intended. At some point, I will probably stare at the screen and wonder how a perfectly good possession ended with my player launching himself into an animation I absolutely did not ask for. Of course, VC will always be lurking somewhere in the background. With NBA 2K27, though, I was not looking for Visual Concepts to reinvent basketball games. I wanted the team to take what was already there and improve the actual basketball. Thankfully, that is exactly where this year’s game makes its biggest improvements.

Game Name: NBA 2K27
Platform(s): PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Switch 2
Reviewed On: Xbox Series X
Publisher(s): 2K
Developer(s): Visual Concepts Release
Date: September 4, 2026

Taking It to the Court

Once you’re actually on the court, NBA 2K27 feels fantastic. ProPLAY has been expanded again with thousands of additional animations, but rather than feeling like another impressive number to throw onto the back of the box, you can actually see and feel the difference during games. Players transition between movements more naturally, dribbling feels considerably smoother, and the biggest NBA stars continue to become more recognizable through how they play rather than simply how they look.

Controlling Stephen Curry shouldn’t feel like controlling Giannis Antetokounmpo, just as attacking the basket with a powerful forward shouldn’t feel identical to creating space with a crafty point guard. NBA 2K has been heading in this direction for several years, but 2K27 takes another noticeable step forward. There’s less of that awkward sensation of waiting for one animation to finish before another begins, which makes changing direction, hesitating, and reacting to defenders feel much more responsive. It doesn’t suddenly mean everyone can dribble like Kyrie Irving, either, and learning what individual players can do remains an important part of becoming good at the game.

Defense Finally Fights Back

The biggest improvement for me, however, is defense. As a forever Power Forward, I’ve always had a complicated relationship with defending in NBA 2K. This is because there have been far too many situations over the years where I’ve done everything correctly, only for the offensive player to slide past me, trigger a favorable animation, or somehow finish through a contest that looked like it should have resulted in anything other than a basket.

NBA 2K27 finally makes playing good defense feel properly rewarding. Hands-up defense has been redesigned, shot contests have been improved, defensive cutoffs feel stronger, and physical collisions give one-on-one situations more weight.

Staying in front of somebody now feels meaningful, while cutting off a driving lane actually has a decent chance of stopping the player rather than merely delaying the inevitable. Get your positioning wrong, and talented offensive players will still punish you, as they should, but there is a much better balance between attack and defense this year. That might not sound as exciting as a flashy new mode, but it’s arguably the most important improvement NBA 2K27 makes because it affects almost every possession you play.

Attack the Basket

Offense hasn’t been forgotten either, with the Dynamic Layup Engine being one of my favorite additions. Driving toward the basket feels more reactive, with players adjusting their bodies depending on where defenders are positioned and the angle you’re attacking from.

Instead of constantly recognizing the same canned sequences, there are moments where a player twists around a defender, extends toward the basket, or somehow manages to get a shot away from an awkward position. It makes attacking the paint more unpredictable and, importantly, more enjoyable. Shooting also feels like it’s sitting in a pretty good place.

Timing matters, knowing a player’s release matters, and, perhaps most importantly, taking sensible shots matters. Create some space, recognize what the defense is giving you, and knock down the resulting jumper, and it feels satisfying. Launch a heavily contested three because you think you’re Steph Curry and watch the ball bounce off the rim? That’s probably on you.

Rewrite NBA History

MyCAREER remains one of the biggest reasons to pick up NBA 2K27, and this year, the addition of MyCAREER Eras gives the mode something I’ve wanted from sports games for a long time.

Rather than restricting your created player to modern basketball, you can take them into different periods of NBA history and see how they fare against some of the greatest players ever to step onto the court. Dropping your own superstar into an era featuring Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James immediately makes the usual MyCAREER grind more interesting because it changes the fantasy behind the mode. Instead of simply asking whether your player can dominate today’s NBA, you’re effectively rewriting basketball history.

The presentation also helps sell the different periods rather than making everything feel like modern NBA 2K with a retro filter slapped over the top. It’s the sort of addition that could easily have felt gimmicky, but I found myself spending far more time with it than I initially expected.

But if playing older generations of players isn’t your thing, no worries. NBA 2K still has you covered with the all-new Visual Concepts story, “Fire & Concrete.” This sees your MP returning after a serious crash and working their way through the G League before eventually reaching the NBA. With your cousin, played by Vince Staples, there to help you, it wouldn’t be a 2K game without some pop culture humor as well.

This then leads into Co-Op MyCAREER, the mode we have all been wanting for so, so long. However, there is a catch. While you are playing co-op, the non-host player will not be using their MyPLAYER. Now, hear me out: while this is a little frustrating, I see this as one step closer to being able to do more online modes outside of the usual offerings. If you’re someone who’s always wanted a MyNBA online save, much like the “up to 32” people in a Madden franchise, this is the step you’ve been waiting for.

Back to The City With New Style But No Soul

The City inevitably returns as the social hub surrounding MyCAREER, and my feelings about it remain somewhat mixed. There’s a huge audience that absolutely loves this side of NBA 2K, and if this is going to be your main game for the next twelve months, there’s an enormous amount to do.

We’ve seen The City grow and shrink in the last few years, and while I much prefer the bigger, mission-oriented, living, breathing City, I am not upset that it has been scaled back. But it really has lost its soul, and with The City receiving only very minor changes overall, I worry this is just par for the course now. I do hope we will one day go back to the rapping, fashion quizzes, and clothing designs we saw in NBA 2K23, but I think hope is all there is.

However, while The City didn’t get much of a new dress, the addition of female MyPLAYERs is nice to see. I have reservations at this point because, as of now, nothing silly has happened. But I do fear that, upon release to everyone, we will start to see immature people abuse the fact that you can play as a woman. I also hope that 2K doesn’t let things like misogyny and other, even worse behavior run rampant in The City. This really is a great addition because it allows the many women who play NBA 2K every year to finally represent themselves.

Building the Dream Team

Then we have MyTEAM, which continues to be one of those modes I can completely understand people losing hundreds of hours to while simultaneously having reservations about everything surrounding it. Building a squad is incredibly addictive, experimenting with different lineups is fun, and finding that one player who perfectly suits the way you play can completely change your team. Taking that squad online and beating somebody else’s carefully constructed lineup can be even better.

Unfortunately, the economy surrounding MyTEAM remains difficult to ignore. NBA 2K27 certainly isn’t the only modern sports game guilty of pushing additional purchases, but VC continues to hang over much of the experience.

You can absolutely enjoy NBA 2K27 without constantly spending additional money, but the game is rarely shy about reminding you that spending some would make progression considerably quicker. It’s frustrating because the basketball underneath MyTEAM is so good that it doesn’t really need all the extra noise surrounding it.

Running the League

Aside from MyCAREER and MyTEAM, NBA 2K27 remains almost ridiculous in how much basketball is packed into the game. MyNBA continues to be particularly dangerous for anyone who enjoys the management side of sports games because there’s always another trade to make, another rotation to tweak, another draft to complete, and another season waiting around the corner.

I’ve had evenings where I’ve intended to play for an hour, only to suddenly realize it’s considerably later because I’ve somehow become emotionally invested in negotiating a contract with a fictional player who hasn’t even been born yet. That’s when sports games are at their best. The NBA license might be the headline attraction, but the combination of current basketball, historical content, the WNBA, and the depth of its franchise offerings makes NBA 2K27 feel like an enormous celebration of the sport rather than simply another annual roster update.

One of NBA 2K27’s more interesting additions is MyNBA Legacy, a new player-locked mode that mixes the on-court experience with running an NBA franchise. You choose a player as your Legend and can build their career while controlling the front office, but the real hook is carrying that legacy into future generations over a massive 100-year dynasty. It’s a clever twist on the traditional MyNBA formula and gives franchise players another potentially dangerous reason to say, “Just one more season.” The only downside for me is that I just don’t like managing a full squad, and with the popularity of MyCAREER, it seems the community agrees. But aside from that, this mode could become special if they keep developing it.

Looking Like the Real Deal

Visually, NBA 2K27 is also excellent. The biggest stars look fantastic, arenas are packed with small details, and the broadcast presentation remains among the best you’ll find in any sports game.

Lighting, animations, crowd reactions, and commentary all work together to sell the illusion that you’re watching an NBA broadcast, and there are occasions where somebody walking past the television could genuinely need a second look before realizing you’re playing a game. It isn’t flawless, of course. Some faces still wander into that slightly unsettling territory where they look almost human, but something isn’t quite right, while background characters obviously don’t receive the same attention as the superstars. These moments can briefly break the illusion, but when NBA 2K27 gets its presentation right, it looks absolutely superb.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, NBA 2K27 doesn’t feel like Visual Concepts tearing everything apart and starting again. It feels like the studio taking a game that was already mechanically strong and focusing its attention on areas that actually needed improvement. There’s still an incredible basketball game at the center of NBA 2K27, and occasionally, I just wish 2K had enough confidence in it to stop surrounding it with so many systems designed to demand additional time or money.

Those issues prevent this from being the definitive NBA 2K experience, but when I’m actually on the court, I’m having a fantastic time. In an era where annual sports games increasingly struggle to explain why we should buy another one, NBA 2K27 gives a fairly convincing answer simply by playing some of the best basketball the series has offered in years.

If you enjoyed this review, explore more of our in-depth video game reviews across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

Review Disclosure Statement: NBA 2K27 was provided to us by 2K for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.