4. The Story Is Farfetched
A quick spoiler warning; this entry contains important plot points from NBA 2K16's MyCareer mode. Alright, let's accept that the game mode has its priorities wrong, and that the actual basketball has been completely overshadowed by the surrounding story. That doesn't mean the story itself has to suck - but unfortunately it doe regardless. Clearly taking inspiration from his own 1998 sports drama, He Got Game, Spike Lee tells the tale of a young kid from the streets, fighting not only to make his way in the NBA, but also to navigate the hazardous waters of a professional sporting career. It sounds good on paper, but comes across as incredibly farfetched in the context of an NBA 2K instalment. It emerges, at one point, that "Freq" accidentally killed a guy at high school while fighting in a stairwell. Vic, your childhood friend, messes up in a series of infuriating ways throughout the story, before finally dying in a car crash. It's all very melodramatic stuff, and seems incredibly out of place in a sports game.