Kobe’s legacy lives on: Exploring the Mamba Mentality in NBA 2K24

SHOULD I PLAY NBA 2K24?

Play it, especially if you’re a basketball lover, a follower of the 2K series, or, most importantly, a fan of the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant! NBA 2K24 is much more than an upgraded player roster. It’s a basketball universe! The fantastic visuals, MyCareer story mode, music, expanded focus on the WNBA, free-roam city, and character customizations are all worth mentioning and set a precedent for how a basketball game should be made. In fact, there is so much to do I felt overwhelmed when I wanted to play a simple pick-up game! And although 2K24 is far from perfect (especially if you’re a PC user), the attention to detail and the sheer amount of extras make this game well worth the $70 price tag, especially if you’re looking to truly live in a world of basketball more than casually experience it.

TIME PLAYED

I spent around five hours with NBA 2K24 on my PlayStation 5, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. Most of that time was spent customizing my character—The A train—a 6’3” point guard for the New York Knicks. But I also had a blast with Mamba Moments and progressing through MyCareer and MyNBA playing in the Jordan era!

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT NBA 2K24?

• The dope beats. Seriously, the music is incredible in NBA 2K24. Right from the opening video of Kobe Bryant tearing it up on the court to Lil Wayne’s 2009 track, “Kobe Bryant”, the tone is set beautifully, and even if you aren’t the biggest basketball fan, it manages to get you hyped and ready to head to the court. You’ve also got hits from Kodak Black and Lil Uzi that’ll get your foot thumping. It might even be worth downloading and using the soundtrack to give you a boost during your workout or, I dare say, while playing basketball in real life.

• The Mamba Moments. NBA 2K24 does a great job honoring the legacy of Kobe Bryant. If giving him the cover wasn’t enough, NBA 2K24 dives into some of his career highlights and asked me to replicate them. Each challenge required me to complete three goals that Kobe did in the respective game. Now, I absolutely sucked at Mamba Moments, even while playing as Kobe, but it was still fun reliving moments like Kobe’s 48-point, 16-rebound game against the Kings in 2001, or keeping Jordan under 20 points in the game. That being said, there are only seven Mamba Moments to play, compared to Jordan’s fifteen in NBA 2K23, with noticeable moments missing, like Kobe’s 81-point game! So, there’s definitely room for this mode to grow, but it was fun nonetheless.

• Hooping with Jordan. One of my favorite things about NBA 2K24 is MyNBA, a mode that allowed me to play in various different NBA eras. Even though 2K24 introduces the “LeBron Era,” which saw him dominating on the Miami Heat with Bosh and Wade, my favorite will always be the Jordan era. Because MyNBA contains eras from the 1980s to 2020, this is great if you want to relieve or learn about a time in basketball history. I especially liked the presentation of the players’ celebrations and watching how they changed throughout the eras, right down to the celebrations they had after scoring.

• Building MyCareer. There are two things I’ve accepted in this world. The narrative is always my favorite part of a game, and I’ll never have a successful NBA career. Luckily, NBA 2K24 solves both these issues with the MyCareer mode. Though not a new addition to the franchise, the 2K24 version held my attention and made me way more invested in the game. After creating my character, I played as the biggest prospect since LeBron James and a third-generation NBA talent. Honestly, I would’ve preferred not coming from basketball royalty and working my way up the ladder. However, choosing shoe deals and running around the Arena and City were fun. There were many ways to upgrade my character, including outfit choices and building my stats, I could even scan my face so that my player portrait was on the character. All of this really made MyCareer mode feel like my personal come-up through the NBA.

WHAT SUCKS IN NBA 2K24?

• The microtransactions. Yes, every game seems to have microtransactions, but I will never like it. Call me crazy, but it looks like there’s a huge incentive to spend money to improve your character in NBA 2K24, and although grinding out games is certainly a possibility, if I want to really compete online against some of the more gung-ho players, dropping cash almost seems necessary which makes me think this game is a bit pay-to-win.

• Overwhelming. I remember the days when you could just go in and play a one-on-one basketball game without worrying about microtransactions and all the other millions of distractions that seem to be in NBA 2K24 that are not actually basketball. If you’re new to the series, I can see how the various modes, the online world, and the NBA 2KTV can be a bit much. NBA 2K24 does a great job of putting you into the shoes of an NBA player. Still, if you’re a more casual basketball fan, you might not be asking for all of that from your virtual basketball game.

💬 Will you play NBA 2K24? And who is the GOAT of basketball? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!