In NBA 2K14, we were introduced to the first real story mode in MyCareer mode in which your self-designed MyPlayer goes through his own NBA career from start to whenever you're done playing it. 2K Sports introduced a story in which your agent was a childhood friend and you had a rival rookie named Jackson Ellis, who you'd have run-ins with throughout the year. You had to earn sponsorship opportunities and decide which company to sign with. Other agents would try to poach you away from your friend with the promise of brighter spotlights on your career. You would get drafted in 2014, and you had to work your way through the rotation and the NBA, testing free agency and demanding trades if you wanted.

 

MyCareer does a commendable job of piecing in small parts to make you feel like you were in the NBA, from conversations with your agent to having some of your texts being leaked onto social media. Unfortunately where it still lacks sorely is in the voice and acting in the MyCareer sections. Your character sounds the same no matter the look and fits the “stereotypical urban ghetto male” persona whenever he opens his mouth. The character that plays your agent is also severely lacking in the acting department, resulting in how awkward conversations with your character feel and play out. After finalizing your player, you immediately play in a rookie showcase game that helps determine where you are selected in the"NBA Draft.

 

This game shows off "NBA 2K12's" improvements over previous versions in replicating players' movements and facial features. The game's announcers also do a good job of mixing your player's performance into their play-by-play chatter. Of course, as usual, my own interest lies primarily in MyPlayer, which has likewise been completely overhauled this year. Gone is erstwhile rival Jackson Ellis, who served as an over-the-top foil in the climb to the top of Bill Simmon's NBA pyramid. Instead, you are cast as an undrafted free agent with a hyperactive Jerry Maguire-like agent, with the goal being to climb the ladder into your team's starting lineup and beyond. 

 

 where you’ll try to build the best team possible (maybe best ever?) usinMyTeam is a trading card based game modeg player cards from every era of basketball. Greats from long ago can be matched up with greats from the here and now to create a dream team that just might be unbeatable. The new Auction house might be the best place to pick up one of the greats you are looking for, or maybe you have a great you aren’t all that impressed by. Either way, just purchasing or earning packs aren’t your only options this time around. The systems Visual Concepts has in place for MyGM make for a compelling experience, but some of the disparate elements needs to coalesce before this becomes a destination mode.

 

Too much of your time is spent dealing with players demanding different training regiments, and the mode isn't good at keeping track of what actions you've taken. In one instance I offered a contract extension to a player before I had a conversation about it with him, and was subsequently punished for breaking a promise even though he had the two-year deal in hand. You also have no tools for improving your relationship with the press without throwing someone in your organization under the bus. For career mode, you now get player mentors from each team as well as a redone upgrade system that places more focus on specialties. You can also earn badges, credits and endorsements.

 

Streetball lovers also can dabble in MyPARK mode, which adds new street courts, a new positional matchup system based on height and weight as opposed to join order, and shorter Got Next wait times. MyPARK also incorporates the game's aforementioned specialization-based attribute system to address issues involving unguardable players with maxed out attributes in the previous game.