NBA 2K26 Review

You don't need us to introduce NBA 2K to you guys. Year after year, 2K Sports has tried to capture the feeling of real NBA action on a digital court, but that comes at a high cost of 70 cold, hard US dollars. We want you to be wise with your money.

NBA 2K has had its highs (those golden-era titles between 2K14 and 2K18) and equally its lows, where stiff animations or frustrating mechanics pulled players out of the experience. With NBA 2K26, 2K has promised to make changes. But what changes are they? Can 2K truly live up to their promise of "Ball Over Everything"?

NBA 2K26 feels like a game that's both smarter and dumber than NBA 2K25. It offers some silky shooting mechanics and smoother presentation, but is held back by questionable defensive AI, clunky pass receptions, and those ever-familiar skating animations that were supposedly “fixed.” Let's break it all down.

We will start by breaking down all the game modes for you and explaining what each offers. 

As for your very first game in MyCareer, guess who you come up against? This statement could end up being controversial, but none other than the GOAT, Michael Jordan. 2K should get their due flowers for their “Out of Bounds” story, which is one of the better story modes in MyCareer that we've seen in quite some time. 

You start as MyPlayer, who lives in Vermont, a high school player trying to make a name for himself and get some exposure by playing in front of the right people. You try to climb the 2K Top 250 list of players and ultimately get drafted. They do a good job of making it feel earned when you do, and you get a look at the journey outside the court to the NBA with these stories.

Minor elements that contribute to the variety include events that allow you to compete against other players and leaderboards that highlight the best crews. The city’s been optimized for less walking, so everything’s far more easily accessible now.

Offseason scenarios, a major addition to MyGM mode, provide you with specially crafted recent offseason tasks to complete based on your team's decisions. This is a great way to keep the owners and fans off your back. But other than that, no major shake-ups. Still a lot of walking around empty buildings to have a little cutscene where nobody talks.

The biggest overhaul MyTeam has gotten this year is the addition of WNBA players in the mode and being able to play on the same team as the guys. Aside from that, the mode has some cool features, such as upgrades and coaching points that you can use to complete challenges and earn badges.

The more coaches you pick up, the more challenges you can run at a time. Playing the tutorial at the start can help you get in the groove. MyTeam has enough new features and variety to keep you occupied while you create the most OP team you can.

With its six distinct eras that you can teleport into—the Modern Era, the Steph Era, LeBron, Kobe, Jordan, and the Bird versus Magic rivalry—MyERAs is back too. MyNBA has reached its peak, as in there’s not much you could possibly want or do that’s not already in-game. The NBA Cup and certain rule changes still help the game mode retain its freshness. It's the best franchise mode of any sports game out there.

As the WNBA continues to grow in popularity, their mode is also getting some attention. You can begin as a base prospect or as someone with a little more seasoning, just like you could last year. The press conferences are a nice touch, allowing your player to get a little bit more personality. And there are GOAT challenges that can help with your rivalries with players already in the league. Even if it’s not as polished as the men’s MyCareer, it’s still a decent work in progress. 

Without much further ado, let’s discuss what you actually play NBA 2K for: gameplay. Shooting in 2K this year is so simplified that you can drain shots at a startlingly high rate. But you can hit greens with ease, and making open and slightly contested shots has never been easier.

And the issue is actually the defense. All game long, you can make wide-open threes because the CPU doesn't play tough enough defense against you around the perimeter. It is a virus plaguing all game modes, whether it's Quick Play or Franchise. 

The game also doesn't penalize taking contested shots enough. Defenders closing in on the shooter don't appear to affect the shot as much as they should, which makes shooting the ball easier. The pick-and-roll game is easy to cheese against the CPU for wide-open mid-range shots or easy assists. This year, the player receiving the ball in pick-and-roll or give-and-go plays has a notably higher degree of drift, continuing to move well beyond the planned play path.

The issue in MyCareer, where your teammates don’t dribble around picks you set them up for, is still prevalent. But on the bright side, the rate of double screens being set because your AI teammates are not smart enough to understand that you've already set a screen has come down a lot. It still happens from time to time. But it's nowhere near as rampant an issue as it was in NBA 2K25.

According to 2K's Courtside Report, drive-and-kick plays are added to the game, but they prefer to look for drive-and-kick plays over open scoring opportunities. Notable advantages include the fact that this year's game makes much greater use of screens and that navigating through them is more challenging if your strength and agility ratings aren't high enough.

Some of the new gameplay mechanics have also done their fair share to improve the overall experience. Being able to perform a no-dip jumper is just a big plus, even if that’s not a feature we were crying out for, per se. They're really leaning into every player being their own person and performing what they actually do in real life. The game now includes wrap passes to make it safer for the ball to weave through the paint. When you do it right, it looks fantastic.

The gameplay itself feels a bit faster and maybe a little bit smoother, but that could just be the excitement of a new NBA 2K title dropping.

There’s not a stark difference from last year’s edition, as we’ve come to expect from sports sims. The two games feel very similar to each other. 2K26 is a slight improvement over 25. But, overall, the gameplay’s still solid, just not anything that we haven’t already seen. It does the job, although 2K could work on one key area, which would be the pass-receiving animations, and clean them up some more. AI intelligence needs a revamp, too, especially in defense. 

Progression in NBA 2K26 remains a grind, especially in MyCareer. While you can dominate games offensively, building up attributes and unlocking badges still takes serious time. VC (Virtual Currency) is once again the source of progression, and unless you’re ready to put in hours or your money, the grind is steep.

On the bright side, since shooting is so generous, earning solid stats in early games feels less punishing. Even lower-rated players can rack up points and get noticed, making the grind feel slightly less tedious compared to, let’s say, 2K25. Still, the reliance on VC microtransactions looms large, which is a bummer and a half.

With all the major talking points nailed down, let’s move on to graphics. Now, 2K made big promises about new machine learning technology that improves player animations, particularly with lower-body movement. Supposedly, this system would eliminate the dreaded “skating” effect where players slide unnaturally across the court. In practice? The skating is still there. 

That said, visually, the game still looks impressive. With entertaining cutscenes in between timeouts and mascots running around, 2K is still the best at presentations. The variety of cutscenes and presentation packages is great. The biggest complaint in this department could be the lack of change, but then again, you know the game’s already as close to perfection visually as it could be, so there’s no point nitpicking. 

Audio design has always been a strong point for NBA 2K, and NBA 2K26 doesn’t disappoint here.

Commentary is sharp and convincing, with plenty of dynamic lines reacting to what’s happening on the floor. Arena sounds, which include the squeaking of the sneakers or the rattle of the rim, only add to the charm. The soundtrack continues 2K’s tradition of mixing mainstream hits with underground gems, giving the menu style and substance. It’s not revolutionary, but it does its job in selling the atmosphere of NBA basketball.

All in all, NBA 2K26 is a game that gets some fundamentals right but stumbles in ways that keep it from greatness. On one hand, the shooting system feels smooth and satisfying, offering casual players an easier time and ensuring that greens remain king. On the other hand, the lack of defensive intelligence and clunky dribble mechanics means the balance leans too often toward offense.

The promised improvements through machine learning tech are visible in certain animations, but they don’t live up to the hype of fixing long-standing problems like player sliding. Progression remains tied to heavy grinding or microtransactions, though at least scoring is easier.

In the end, NBA 2K26 is a solid basketball sim that feels more like a pocket transition than a revolution. Hardcore players will notice the recycled flaws, but they are still limited to the minute details. It’s fun, it’s flashy, but it still has room to grow. All that being said, you know, for a basketball game, nothing can really go shoulder-to-shoulder with 2K’s juggernaut. So NBA 2K26 has once again slam dunked on its competition (there isn’t any) and on our wallets.