NBA 2K16: Review of Team and Player Customization Options

There are several features in the world of sports video games that are good; hardly anything is perfect.

We can add NBA 2K16’s team customization tool to the the short list of flawless features. I consider myself a customization wizard when it comes to sports video games, and there’s nothing I can think of that could be added to this feature that would make it better. 

First and foremost, you can upload any image to NBA2K.com to use as your team logo. With that option, the possibilities are endless. If you don’t want to upload an image, there are stock pictures available that can be manipulated to create cool artwork for your team.

Whatever you choose can be rotated, scaled and placed at center court and/or at various spots throughout your custom arena. It can also be placed on your team’s custom uniform. In the arena, you can use a variety of fonts to print any saying or phrase along the baselines or sidelines. 

Perhaps the best part about this tool is that it can be used in various modes within the game such as: MyGM, MyCAREER, MyTEAM and 2K Pro-Am.

We’ve seen some cookie-cutter versions of this type of tool in the past, but this is how it should be done.

The player customization tool is good, but not nearly as great as the options you get when creating a team.

When creating a MyPlayer, it’s supposed to begin with scanning your face. That hasn’t worked well in the early going, so it creates an issue from the start. We can only hope that aspect of the game gets patched, because as of now, it leaves a lot to be desired.

The scanning process moves quicker than it did last year, but it’s far less accurate than the best results rendered in NBA 2K15. Once you get past this part of the process—or simply decide to settle for an inaccurate render—the tool gets much better.

There’s a good number of tattoos and accessories to choose from. 

The player creation tool outside of the MyPlayer suite is solid, but it’s still missing a few options that would make it one of the best out there. While this year’s version allows you to give players headbands, you still can’t outfit them with goggles or tattoos. Also, the capped height is still 7’2”. 

Essentially, if I wanted to make a player like Manute Bol, I couldn’t. All in all, the overall customization is well above average, but the options for creating players have the most room for improvement.

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