2. Your Rookie Season Consists Of 8 Games
Let's strip away all the extras for a second. Even if you're a huge fan of Spike Lee's writing here - even if you believe it to be one of the best plot-lines in video game history - the fact remains that it forces you to play just 8 games of your rookie season. The NBA regular season has 82 games, and you're able to play less than a tenth of these (mainly from the bench, no less). There's no chance to win Rookie of the Year, or even to force yourself into an important role on the squad. You barely even develop any attributes, a once-delayed feature of the game that is almost completely delayed until the second year. Again, your performance in these 8 games is irrelevant. You could hold LeBron James to 4 points while dropping 50 of your own, and the team owner would still bitch about your refusal to sever ties with Vic.