I’m waist deep in my evaluation of NBA 2K21 on current-gen consoles. I’m playing the game on PlayStation 4, and basing my review on that version. In the midst of evaluating every inch of the game, I took a look at every team, and every player included.
We’re talking current teams, free agents, classic teams, and the WNBA squads, which you can edit this year.
There are two new classic teams: 16-17 Golden State Warriors and the 18-19 Toronto Raptors, and the 2012 and 2016 Team USA Olympic squads.
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Here is a look at every team and player in the video below.
Noteworthy Omissions
Every year, for legal reasons caused by retirement, contract expiration and sometimes death, 2K loses the rights to include certain legends, retired players, or guys who aren’t currently in the NBA. Last year, it was Manu Ginobili, but thankfully he is back in the fold on all classic San Antonio Spurs squads, and he’s on the all-time team.
This year, in addition to the normal missing pieces (Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller and Rasheed Wallace) 2K is also missing Luol Deng, Andrew Bynum, Joe Johnson, Mike Miller, Juwan Howard, Tayshaun Prince, and Deron Williams. Some of these guys have been missing for years, but their absence hasn’t been as high-profile as Barkley, Miller or Wallace.
Upgraded Renders
The cover athlete, Damian Lillard, has more hair, and the same can be said for Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
There are also some new profile images for several players and some different placements on the all-time teams. In totality, the rosters and render work is much more like a patch or update from NBA 2K20 rather than an entirely new experience.
