‘Decided by the gamers’ – The NBA and WNBA merge together to provide NBA 2K26 first that yields extra ‘competitive’ edge
The highly-anticipated launch of NBA 2K26 is almost upon us.
Ahead of 2K’s flagship video game’s global launch on September 5, talkSPORT was invited to San Francisco, California to get an exclusive hands-on look at all the new features that you can expect to see in the 2026 edition.
Along with getting to play through the game, talkSPORT also exclusively sat down with NBA 2K Gameplay Director Mike Wang and Ronnie Singh – more commonly known as Ronnie 2K – to discuss gameplay improvements and how MyTeam has been taken to the next level.
Feature enhancements provide even more realistic experience
With the release of NBA 2K26 comes the debut of the game’s new generation 9 gameplay improvements, which includes an all-new dynamic motion engine powered by ProPLAY.
For those unfamiliar with ProPLAY, essentially what it is is technology that translates real-life NBA footage and integrates it into the game itself, thus providing more true-to-life animations, such as certain players’ signature moves and shooting form etc.
While ProPLAY itself isn’t new, some of its features, such as the Dynamic Motion Engine are, which really focuses on players’ movement such as lower-body pose as it pertains to the positioning of their legs and feet, while ensuring they move across the court as realistically as possible.
Therefore, NBA 2K26 may well be the smoothest and most advanced gameplay yet, with its new upgrades, including new and revamped controls that reward users who have quicker reaction times and can quickly make on-court decisions.
The addition of the Dynamic Motion Engine was something Wang was particularly excited about the game now including, especially as it offers the biggest change to player movement since NBA 2K21.
“ProPLAY is huge for us and it’s really permeated everything in the game now,” he said. “Almost all of our gameplay animations are coming directly from ProPLAY across the board. But for 2K26, one of the biggest upgrades is our new Dynamic Motion Engine.
“So last year was the dribbler, and this year, all of the motions so all of the defense, on and off-ball movement is all driven by ProPLAY now. So it’s a very cool addition. It feels way better and I think it looks really good too.”
There have also been improvements made to rhythm shooting, whereby users now have more responsive jumpshots, and have to be more strategic and skilled when it comes to lay-ups and dunks as a result of the incorporation of Green or Miss Shot Timing to those shot-types.
According to 2K’s courtside report, there are a plethora of defensive improvements in NBA 2K26, including all-new Rebound Timing and a redesigned Interior Defense Feedback, the latter of which means that users can get much closer to shooters when they’re finishing around the rim, while they can also make body-to-body contact in the air.
But Wang is most excited about the new customization options on offense, such as dribble combinations that users can play around with to form their own ones.
“I’m probably most excited about the fans seeing the new dribble stuff,” he added. “There’s a lot of new dribble combos and things, and I know that fans love to get into the lab and do some new combos, so I am excited to see how well they can pull them off. They always teach me new stuff too.”
Greater authenticity = greater competitiveness
It’s not just the on-court gameplay that has had a huge overhaul in NBA 2K26, but the presentation of players, arenas, and broadcasters alike has also had a revamp of its own.
One of the key upgrades is what’s known as ‘player fidelity’ which uses next-generation technology to its advantage and provides a shading technology which further places the spotlight on the subtleties of every player’s skin, and even provides enhanced muscle definition if a player is celebrating a highlight play.
Furthermore, there are improvements to both the arena visuals and its atmosphere to make the game feel more immersive than ever, and as though players are really experiencing an NBA game in the flesh.
NBA 2K26 has done this by adjusting the lighting and shades of the hardwood, while the variety in crowd faces have been expanded. There are even team-specific features now, like the Los Angeles Clippers’ “Wall” that is a staple of their all-new Intuit Dome.
There are even more advanced cut-scenes and broadcast voices, with the addition of Tim Legler to the already-integrated Kevin Harlan, Shams Charania, Stan Van Gundy and more.
But Wang highlighted that the development team needed to strike the perfect balance between content that looks good, and is seamless when integrated into the game itself.
“What we’re finding is that we can’t just put in content because it looks good,” Wang said. “We have to make sure that it plays well. We are getting better at balancing those things.
“We can’t just throw in an animation because it looks right and looks cool on TV – it’s got to be effective. We need to make sure we get the right content too.
“We can’t just take any animations, we have to get the ones that fit the game, make the game competitive and make it useful for players to use.”
Nonetheless, with all these visual improvements combined with the new and improved gameplay, Wang believes that it significantly improves the experience for the users, from beginners up to professionals.
“In terms of key differences and improvements, it’s the fact that it is now more in the gamer’s hands. What I mean by that is that we’re trying to scale back on all the things that are random or outcomes that aren’t really under [players’] control because no one likes that, even if sometimes they can be realistic.”
“Adding more skill-based mechanics into the game is going to be good for our game in general, I believe.
“People don’t want the game to decide the outcome, they want to dictate what’s inside the game in their hands. Things like lay-up timing, dunk timing, and even timing rebounds – all these things – they’re all just really enforcing the fact that everything you do on a basketball court is a skill thing.
You have to make good decisions and you have to be good at things to be successful. We have a game that’s competitive and that’s what we want. We want gamers to be the ones dictating the outcomes.”
A 2K26 first – The NBA and The W join forces in MyTeam
Perhaps one of the most anticipated features of NBA 2K26 is the all-new MyTeam, which sees the WNBA join for the very first time.
With their introduction into the mode, users can now combine the biggest stars from both leagues, providing more roster combinations than ever before seen.
This means that Chicago Sky forward and 2K cover athlete Angel Reese can now be paired alongside her mentor, and fellow LSU alumni, Shaquille O’Neal in the frontcourt.
Furthermore, the all-time greatest three-point shooter Stephen Curry can be paired in the backcourt with Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark to provide a dominant duo at guard, if fancied – the possibilities are endless.
“I’m super excited for it,” Wang exclusively told talkSPORT. “It’s a first for us to have mixed-genders together, and I think it’s going to be interesting to see what cards people will gravitate towards because I know that some of these WNBA cards are going to be really really strong and they’re going to be fun to play with.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how the men and women mix together and see them compete on the court together. I know there are going to be some great viral videos of NBA guys getting posterized by a lady, but it’ll be fun to see.”
What makes MyTeam extra special this year is that the WNBA and NBA player cards’ attributes and badges function identically, making for strong gameplay no matter which users opt to play on the court, which is something Ronnie 2K is particularly proud of including in this year’s iteration.
“The attributes and ratings crossover for the two,” Singh added. “I couldn’t be more thrilled about it. The ability to play Steph and Caitlin [Clark] in the same backcourt and Angel [Reese] and Shaquille [O’Neal] in the frontcourt is awesome.
“Having people put together their best five-person squads and the discussion around that is a whole nother avenue and it’s just so great for both games and the development of them. I’m really excited to see some legendary W players in that whole equation as well. It’s going to be very very cool.”
While Singh acknowledges just how ‘cool’ it is to have the two leagues come together, deciding which players would make his five-person squad is a far more difficult feat.
“It’s so crazy because there are so many good players on both squads,” Singh explained. “I guess I would take, it’s so early on Caitlin, I can’t take her or can I? That would be living up to some hype.
“You’ll probably have to take MJ [Michael Jordan] and I took Steph as my point-guard. I know it’s controversial, but I think that we’re there. I’d have LeBron James at small forward. I would take Candace Parker and probably Shaquille or Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], I don’t know.
But I can’t wait to see what people put together – it’s going to be awesome.”
With so many new features for users to sink their teeth into, it is difficult to encapsulate NBA 2K26 in just one sentence, though Wang did his best to try.
“Skill-based outcomes,” Wang said when asked to describe the game in as few words as possible. “We want the game to be a game that’s competitive and really decided by the gamers.”
It appears that NBA 2K26 achieves just that.
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