Since the arrival of next-gen consoles, like the Xbox One and PS4, NBA 2K games look terrific. The only problem is the games do not play as well as they look. NBA 2K16 has a lot of frustrating gameplay issues. The 2K franchise is trying to design a game that plays like real NBA basketball. Unfortunately, there are glitches in the way that prevent this from happening. With NBA 2K17 coming out this fall, there are changes that 2K players would like to see. Here are the top ten things that need to be changed.

1. Bump Turnovers- This is one of the most frustrating things that happens in 2K because of how often it happens. A “Bump turnover” is when your player dribbles the ball next to the opponent and when they make contact with each other, your player stumbles and losses the ball. One of the bad things about these turnovers is that if the ball barley hits a player’s thigh, your player will stumble and lose the ball. People online that you play against are not even trying to play real defense because of this. They will purposely sprint to the side the ball is being dribbled on and run into it to force a bump turnover animation. Another bad thing about bump turnovers is that if the ball goes out of bounds, you lose possession. The problem with this is that the ball is hitting the other player and therefore should be off them. This is a very difficult thing to fix because of the way the physics are set up in NBA 2K16. In real life if you were to run into somebody you would collide with them and possibly fall down. It would be really hard for 2K to add that much physics into the game. People would be running over each other all the time and the game wouldn't be any fun. The one thing 2K can do is have different animations for the ball handler. In the NBA ball handlers use their arms as shields from the defenders trying to get the ball. 2K can implement this to help users protect the ball and not have as many turnovers.
2. Too shot release oriented- What decides whether a jumpshot goes in or not in NBA 2K is the shot release. 2K relies too much on the release and less on the actual shooter. For example let’s say I were to shoot a three pointer with Kevin Durant, a great shooter. Durant is wide open and his feet are set, if I do not get a good shot release, the shot is not going to go in. If my opponent is using Rajon Rondo, a very bad three point shooter and gets a good release, it is going to go in. This is unrealistic because in real life if Rondo were to shoot a bunch of threes, he would not make a high percentage of them no matter what the release is. Not only does this apply for players but also the types of shots being taken. A wide open jumper can miss but a step-back or three point shot near half court could go in if you get a good shot release. If 2K is aiming to have the game play like the NBA, this is not the right way to do it.
3. Post spin animation- Another frustrating flaw in NBA 2K16 that needs to be changed is the post spin animation. This is when a player performs a spin in the post particularly from near the free throw line. When the spin is performed, the post defender all of a sudden stumbles and cannot keep up. Many users do this frequently especially if there is a mismatch in speed. Defenders do not stumble just because the offensive player spun. Unless the player is much faster, the defender will stay with him stride for stride in the NBA. The animation is too automatic and should be taken out of the game.
4. Three second violations called too quick- In NBA 2K16 three second violations are more like one second violations. From personal experience I have caught the ball in the post with Shaquile o’ Neal and taken two dribbles and been called for a three second violation. I then have gone to replay watched it and counted how many seconds it was. And before I get to three, the whistle was blown. This is an easy fix and hopefully should not happen in NBA 2K17.
5. Smarter dunk animations- This problem arises in fast break situations when a player is going for a dunk and then is blocked from behind because of the way they tried to dunk it. When going for a dunk the user has little control, the only thing they can do is a normal dunk and a flashy dunk. Even normal dunks are not always the smartest dunks. Sometimes when dunking, a player in 2k puts the ball behind their head without the user telling it to do so. This gives defenders the opportunity to block it because the ball is right there to swat. A forward dunk feature should be added to the game so that when someone going for a dunk is being chased, they put the ball towards the hoop to prevent being blocked. This option should be made by having the user hold the right stick forward so that the ball goes forward.
6. The weird euro step out of bounds glitch- This does not happen frequently but can happen and is discouraging for gamers.This glitch happens when a player is going to the hoop and holding down the sprint button and then when they press the icon and pass button the player goes out of bounds. The player performs what looks like a euro step but keeps going and goes passed the basket and out of bounds and losing the ball in the process. It is unclear how this does happen but it can happen at a crucial time in the game and lead to a lot of rage from the gamers. This is purely a random glitch and should be a minor fix.
7. Bad defender animations from hop steps- When a user hop steps toward the basket, the defender stumbles and is in very bad position to defend the shot. This gives the offensive player an easy layup and there is nothing the defender can do. These kinds of things are annoying for players because they suffer from a flaw in the game and can’t do anything about it. A defender should keep their balance and not stumble and give up an easy basket.
8. Computer defenders jump at pump fakes- This can only happen if you are playing off-ball defense and are not the one guarding the ball handler. If the computer is the one defending, they can randomly jump at pump fakes. Users know this flaw and will pump fake and blow right by the defender and either get a layup or an open jump shot. To fix this, this should not be allowed to happen in user vs. user play. This is another one of those things where theres nothing you can do about this and is something wrong in the game.
9. Smarter momentum- Momentum is something hard to correct but players should not run in place to prevent going out of place. Running in place full speed next to the out of bounds line while dribbling a basketball is physically impossible to do. In 2K this happens occasionally and is something that should never happen. If someone is sprinting towards the out of bounds line, they should go out of bounds. A way to fix going out of bounds is if a user does not press anything, the player should stop running and not go out of bounds. If the goal is to make it play like real life basketball, you cannot have players doing un-human things.
10. Taking too long to inbound the ball- For years in 2K there are many times when referees take way too long to inbound the basketball. While this issue is not the difference between winning and losing it is enough to take away some of the enjoyment from the game. 2K should program the refs to inbound the ball as soon as they get it. This is even an issue in the new gauntlet mode that does not even have referees. When a shooting foul is called in gauntlet after a made basket, the camera goes to the guy who committed the foul. From there the camera stays on the player just standing there doing absolutely nothing for a few seconds. While this is going on, the person inbounding is standing there with the ball in their hands and does not inbound the ball. Users can press the inbound button all they want and nothing will happen until the camera is fixed. The way to correct this is to not have fouls called after a made basket in gauntlet. This is easy because there are no free throws in gauntlet mode anyway so they are just a waste of time. They are also a waste of watching someone standing there doing nothing.

NBA 2K16 has good things like the gauntlet mode and team customization. Dynamic ratings and moments cards in MyTeam are a nice addition to the mode. Also the extra packs in MyTeam give players opportunities to get different kinds of cards. Having something new in 2K frequently is also a nice change. There are more modes in NBA 2K16 therefore giving players more to do. The graphics are great and the game can be fun when unrealistic things are not happening. Hopefully these things are changed for NBA 2K17 for more enjoyment of the game and most importantly less rage and less broken controllers.