Tell Me About Your Sports Franchises!

[DMN in the House]

I know we have separate threads for different games, but I thought a catch-all thread similar to the TEW games thread might be fun, where we can all share the ongoing adventures of our various sports franchises across games and years, without needing to maybe put in as much work as you would in The Cube.

I'll start, I've got a LA Lakers franchise on 2k23, started in the Magic era, right now we're starting the 1984-85 season, coming off a first round exit to the Seattle Supersonics in the 4/5 series. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was out, and I sim a lot so I'm not just scoring 40 and winning every game. I have pretty solid sliders as well.

Went into the off-season prepared to just hold the fort down and shuffle around the bench, but things got pretty crazy. I have my trade difficulty slider at like 70-75 (I sometimes do 100 but you don't get realistic trades there), and was able to move off Jamal Wilkes for the younger, bigger, and cheaper Larry Nance, a lateral move at worst, but makes me lengthy up front, which is great for the 80s.

The big move was kind of spur of the moment. I don't really tend to do things I consider too unrealistic as a GM in sports games, a man's gotta have a code, but the 1984 draft is the Jordan, Barkley, Hakkem draft, and I've never really tried to make a move. Well, Philly had the first pick, but wouldn't deal, and Chicago had the second pick, and also wouldn't deal. Portland, however, had the third pick, and would deal. The 3rd overall pick and C Michael Thompson for my Unprotected 1985 1st rounder, the eighth man off my bench, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Now, this was highly, highly unrealistic, because the Lakers would never have traded The Captain, but Thompson + one of Jordan/Barkley/Hakeem was going to be better long term than KAJ and my 8th man. Regardless of which one I got, it was either a younger replacement who should end up just as good in Olajuwon, a PF in Barkley that lets me move James Worthy to the 3 and gives me one of the most athletic and capable front courts in the league, or I replace Byron Scott with literally the best player to ever play and have MJ and MJ in the same backcourt, it's a no brainer, yeah?

Make the deal, go to the draft, and end up with Olajuwon. So now it's the start of the 1984-85 season and we'll see how it goes, but I've got Magic. Worthy, and Olajuwon, so I might have extended Showtime into the mid 90s... if I can keep Magic and Big Game James, they love to test FA.

I also have a Raiders franchise on Madden 21, and I'm probably going to play some NCAA14 in anticipation of the new game, so I might drop some stuff in here about those when I get to the end of the seasons, might be a while, I tend to sim a lot more on 2k than on football games.

[Mick]

 

 

Well........

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Okay, unsure if I'm going to buy MLB The Show 24 but I've had a really fun 23 Franchise going with the Blue Jays.

I Manage each game but then play the last one of the series. The first year, we ended up losing to the Yankees in the ALDS, then won the World Series in the second year. Now in the middle of Year 3. 

Rotation is currently Alek Manoah (who has been really good because he started with the stats he had at the start of last year), Dustin May (just signed to a long-term deal and is doing incredible), Jose Berrios, Nate Pearson and Ricky Tiedemann. Also traded for Kyle Harrison and he got a shot at the rotation but is now in the bullpen. Adrian Houser was signed to a one year deal last year to be the longman. Thought about adding someone new but he was the best option for the least amount of money so I brought him back. Romano left even though I offered him the most money so Andres Munoz, who I traded for is the new closer. Tim Mayza continues to regress but his stats are amazing. Jordan Hicks, Joe Mantiply (traded from the Dbacks), JT Chargois and Dylan Coleman round out the rest of the pen. Two of our 100 prospects are pitchers that I drafted. 

Vlad and Bo got locked up long term. Kyle Tucker just signed a big deal and I maybe will regret it as he's already regressing. But he replaced George Springer who was traded to Seattle. Chapman re-signed after 2023 to a 5 year deal. Kirk is behind the dish with Jansen being traded after 2023. Rotating back-up catchers including with Jorge Alfaro, Carson Kelly and Seby Zavala (currently) all being shuffled through. Traded for Lars Nootbar and signed Alex Verdugo to round out the outfield. Verdugo typically DHs unless one of the outfielders needs a rest day. Rest of the bench is Addison Barger, Orelvis Martinez and Michael Taylor. 

Might wait until I know for sure there is a decent full minors roster and then upgrade to 24 but am enjoying this Franchise and not sure I want to leave anytime soon.

[Krabby]

Awesome thread idea @DMN in the House

Here's one of my latest games of BBGM. I did a player challenge - 1984 Bulls with rookie Michael Jordan. The goal was to see if I could eclipse his real life career - I always attempted to compete every single season, MJ started no matter what, and traded anyone who wasn't pulling their weight to get MJ his titles. 

Here's how his career accolades shook out vs his real life ones (my game on left his career on right):

• Hall of Fame: Yes, in both
• Titles: 6 vs 6
• MVP: 7 vs 5
• Finals MVP: 4 vs 6
• Def. Player of the Year: 2 vs 1
• Rookie of the Year: Yes, in both
• All-NBA: 16 vs 11
• All-Defensive: 9 vs 9
• All-Rookie: Yes, in both
• All-Star MVP: 4 vs 3
• All-Star: 16 vs 14
• Slam Dunk Contest: 3 vs 2
• Scoring Leader: 10 vs 10
• Steals Leader: 4 vs 3

Pretty dang comparable actually considering my MJ had 4 extra seasons and about 450 extra games or so. 

One of the notable changes though is I won almost all of my titles with MJ when he was very young. My Bulls won in:

• 84-85
• 85-86
• 86-87
• 87-88
• 90-91
• 93-94

As opposed to the real MJ who won his 6 between 90-91 and 97-98 (including the year off between three peats to play baseball).

In terms of regular season stats, here's how the comparison went:

• PTS/G: 23.2 vs 30.1
• RBD/G: 5.4 vs 6.2
• FG%: 50.0 vs 49.7
• 3P%: 33.5 vs 32.7
• FT%: 86.4 vs 83.5
• AST/G: 4.4 vs 5.3
• TOV/G: 2.3 vs 2.7
• STL/G: 1.8 vs 2.3
• BLK/G: 0.8 vs 0.8
• FOULS/G: 2.2 vs 2.6

Again, considering I had 450 more games and most of those extras being in the decline years, I think that is a pretty good comparison overall!

Here's a brief seasonal recap:

• 84-85: Signed Larry Bird in the offseason, 63-19 record, swept way to Finals, won title after 7 grueling games with Clyde Drexler's Trail Blazers
• 85-86: No major roster moves, 65-17 record, breezed way to another title with a playoff record of 15-3
• 86-87: MJ and Bird continue to develop, 59-23 record, another easy title, walking 15-1 to the trophy
• 87-88: Kevin Duckworth, who I drafted in 86, cracks starting lineup, 52-30 record, not quite as easy of a title win but still got the job done in 6 vs Mark Aguirre and Mark Jackson's Mavericks
• 88-89: Added prime Isiah Thomas to the team as its PG. 58-24, headed back to the finals but lost to Magic Johnson's Lakers in 7
• 89-90: No huge moves, 65-17 record, lost to Sir Charles' 76ers (who was joined by Jeff Hornacek and Don Majerle)
• 90-91: Bird and IT starting to decline some more, 63-19 record, but took a pretty easy title run beating David Robinson and Reggie Miller's Sonics in 5
• 91-92: Mostly the same core guys, 58-24, #1 seed again, knocked off in 2nd round in 7 by Boston led by Dikembe Mutombo and Michael Adams
• 92-93: Core slowly declining, still made #1 seed with 59-23 record, choked in the first round though as Barkley's Sixers - now with Hakeem the Dream - took us out 3-1
• 93-94: IT dropping big time, picked up Dominique Wilkins, G Bobby Phills made a huge developmental leap. 45-37 record, first time as #4 seed and an underdog, breezed through the playoffs 15-2 to beat the Sonics again to win the title
• 94-95: Added aging John Stockton to beef up for a run at another trophy, 50-32 record, ironically swept by Toni Kukoc's Hornets in Round 1
• 95-96: Signed Alonzo Mourning to beef the inside, 50-32 record, taken out in round 1 by Shawn Kemp's Orlando Magic
• 96-97: Added Dino Radja and Cherokee Parks in a deal for Phills, 43-39 record, Phills gets last laugh by eliminating the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals
• 97-98: Picked up John Starks and an aging Hakeem as a 42 y/o Bird can't cut it anymore, 37-45 record - first missed playoffs in this run
• 98-99: Bird still active, drafted Cuttino Mobley 9th overall, 45-37 record gets us back in Playoffs, beaten in Round 1 by the Raptors led by Kerry Kittles
• 99-00: MJ's last year as an All-Star, Bird finally retires, added Shareef Abdur-Rahim in free agency, drafted Rasho Nesterovic, 45-37 record, this time swept by Donyell Marshall and Jason Terry's Wizards
• 00-01: MJ regressing in at standard pace, added Chauncey Billups, drafted Marcus Fizer, 49-33 record, made ECF but taken out by the Raptors again, now with  Elton Brand
• 01-02: Drafted Brendan Haywood, team rides strong year from Abdur-Rahim to a 57-25 record and another ECF appearance, lose to 76ers featuring Pau Gasol, Jason Williams, and Steve Nash
• 02-03: Last year for MJ, big drop from MJ but still have to start him, drafted Reggie Evans, sputtered to a 37-45 record, missed playoffs for only the second time
• 2003: MJ RETIRES AS A HALL OF FAMER

[JasonM]

I love this thread concept. I have been on/off playing a save of Front Office Football 8 with the Seahawks, starting in the 2020 season.

Decided to stick with Russ in the beginning, believing he still had something left in the tank.

2020: Ended 7-9, in fact it made Carroll so sad he retired. Brian Schottenheimer got promoted from OC to Head Coach. The season was lost in the beginning, so I put forward my backup QB (Conner Butler) to play half the season because he has the right mentalities and I wanted someone as a future mentor/glue guy.
2021: 6-10 in the first season of Schott, Russ only made it through 12 games before getting injured.
2022: 7-9, again Russ only made it 12 weeks before getting hurt. And he had a terrible season before that.
2023: With Daniel Jones (somehow playing good football for NYG!) a free agent, I decide to take the risk and release Russ whilst giving Dan a good contract. In his first season with us he immediately get a 89 QB and 3300yards, leading the team to a 12-3-1 and our first playoffs and all the way to the NFC finals before falling to the Colts (who came off a 2200+ yard rushing season from Jonathan Taylor!!) They somehow lose against the Bears in the superbowl.
2024: A worse season for Dan, struggling with injuries, the honeymoon ends. But a stud defense and ace RB gets us to 11-5 and another playoff run, where we lose in the divisional round, because the backup can't make it happen with Dan out.
2025: Dan has a healthy but super underwhelming season, but again defense + rushing gets us to 11-5 and another loss in the Divisional off a horrendous playoff performance.
2026: The honeymoon is fully over, we end 8-8 and not getting into the playoffs, Jones just wasn't working out, but I was fully committed. I somehow have a knack for drafting defenders, but like the mid 00s Ravens the offense isn't picking up the slack.
2027: 9-7, no playoffs. I continue to blindly believe in Daniel Jones, but at least I pick up a decent looking QB in the 5th round called Alexis Brandon who totally won't become relevant later.
2028: Almost confoundingly, Daniel Jones goes crazy and throws for almost 4000 yards, and with that same great defense he hauls us to a 11-5 season and our first superbowl appearance, sadly in an ugly slogfest the Broncos win 17-16. But maybe Dan Jones can make it happen (surely!)
2029: Except he regresses right back to the mean, and we end up missing out on playoffs despite a 10-6 record. And thus ends the Daniel Jones era, we need a change, and Alexis Brandon deserves a chance after three years of bench riding learning from Daniel and Butler (yeah, he's there too!)
2030: Alexis and Butler spend the season sharing starts, but Alexis shows flashes of being better than Jones was, with 2500 yards in 13 starts and a tidy 87QBR. We make it back in the playoffs with a 10-6, but Alexis struggles to ball out and we lose in the divisional.
2031: The weirdest season. Alexis starts off on fire and is even on early MVP watch, except after week 8 he has a season ending bout of depression (no joke, that was the injury), Butler takes over and somehow does better at a 119QBR across three games before he blows his knee out, the third stringer shows up, and he also gets injured (lol). We end up having to sign a guy cut by the Rams, and he shakily hauls us to a 12-4 finish (most wins were Alexis/Butler). To make things worse, we didn't even get the bye! I expect the worst, but the kid (Cory Barnes, 6th rounder) suddenly starts balling out, and before we know it we're in the Super bowl where we face off against the Chargers... And completely annihilate them 37-7 and win our first super bowl! Cory Barnes does the Nick Foles and carries a stricken team with a dubious offense to our first ring, and Butler of course takes the ring and retires.
2032: I am believing again, revived by the ring, it's time to run it all back. Barnes gets a contract to backup Alexis, and we finally draft a few decent looking receivers. Having gotten therapy, Alexis comes back swinging and gets a fantastic 3000 yard season on a 100QBR, ending in the top 3 in rating and TDs (24, we are a rushing team) despite only 12 starts, he could have become MVP if he had been healthy. And with another 12-4 I feel confident for another bowl run and we almost get it, only getting sent home in the NFC final against eventual winner Green Bay.

 

And that is the current state of affairs. After 13 seasons we are going strong, the winningest team in the NFL in terms of regular season success. Despite that, we missed the playoffs six times because the 49ers/Rams are always dangerous (and I guess the Cards are also there with 2 playoff appearances, lol). When I dropped Daniel Jones I expected nothing from Alexis, because his abilities looked 'meh' at best, and I had plenty of meh with Daniel Jones. But that's what I love about FOF8 because he proved me wrong and was a big part in getting our first ring and following up with another NFC final the year after (which he actually made happen instead of the emergency backup).

As a self rule I have never and will never tank, so I have been forced to work with late 1st round picks at best, so that's added a fun challenge. As well as mainly signing players that fit in the chemistry profile (which takes away a lot of good picks that *might* not work out). For some reason, I have always had a good defense going after the first seasons, but the offense has always been messy other than one stud RB who had 5 1000+ seasons until 2028, before falling off physically and becoming a backup (only 1 sub-500 season, even after the dropoff) until our title run (retired afterwards, good on him).

Anyways, I might post future updates here. I have been thinking of posting a diary, but since I am already 12 years in it feels weird, and the past seasons are foggy. I'll post a few more stat dump pictures for the freaks among you who like that stuff!

Fun fact, Kyler Murray is the leading yardage QB... The Cardinals have only made the playoffs despite that, clearly yardage isn't everything
Team fact: In 13 seasons we have never lost against - The Browns (3-0), Steelers (3-0), Bengals (3-0), and Patriots (4-0)

Seahawks history - League History - Bowl Results
Career NFL Passing Leaders - Rushing Leaders - Receiving Leaders
Tackling Leaders - Interceptions - Sacks
League MVPs - Coach of the Year's
Super Bowl winning box score

[Toe]

18 hours ago, Mx. Canadian Destroyer said:

Okay, unsure if I'm going to buy MLB The Show 24 but I've had a really fun 23 Franchise going with the Blue Jays.

I Manage each game but then play the last one of the series. The first year, we ended up losing to the Yankees in the ALDS, then won the World Series in the second year. Now in the middle of Year 3. 

Rotation is currently Alek Manoah (who has been really good because he started with the stats he had at the start of last year), Dustin May (just signed to a long-term deal and is doing incredible), Jose Berrios, Nate Pearson and Ricky Tiedemann. Also traded for Kyle Harrison and he got a shot at the rotation but is now in the bullpen. Adrian Houser was signed to a one year deal last year to be the longman. Thought about adding someone new but he was the best option for the least amount of money so I brought him back. Romano left even though I offered him the most money so Andres Munoz, who I traded for is the new closer. Tim Mayza continues to regress but his stats are amazing. Jordan Hicks, Joe Mantiply (traded from the Dbacks), JT Chargois and Dylan Coleman round out the rest of the pen. Two of our 100 prospects are pitchers that I drafted. 

Vlad and Bo got locked up long term. Kyle Tucker just signed a big deal and I maybe will regret it as he's already regressing. But he replaced George Springer who was traded to Seattle. Chapman re-signed after 2023 to a 5 year deal. Kirk is behind the dish with Jansen being traded after 2023. Rotating back-up catchers including with Jorge Alfaro, Carson Kelly and Seby Zavala (currently) all being shuffled through. Traded for Lars Nootbar and signed Alex Verdugo to round out the outfield. Verdugo typically DHs unless one of the outfielders needs a rest day. Rest of the bench is Addison Barger, Orelvis Martinez and Michael Taylor. 

Might wait until I know for sure there is a decent full minors roster and then upgrade to 24 but am enjoying this Franchise and not sure I want to leave anytime soon.

I love Zavala as a back up catcher. He's one of those players that I hit well with even though they don't have the best attributes.

How did Chapman do in your first few seasons? For me, he's been decent power hitter that doesn't get on base as much as you'd like. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Just now, Toe said:

I love Zavala as a back up catcher. He's one of those players that I hit well with even though they don't have the best attributes.

How did Chapman do in your first few seasons? For me, he's been decent power hitter that doesn't get on base as much as you'd like. 

Yeah, Zavala is my guy right now. He's hitting like .280 in the 9th spot when he bats, so I'll take it. 

That's pretty much exactly what happened. He hit for a bunch of power and has such good defense. I honestly wasn't sure if I'd re-sign him but if memory serves me correctly, it was a pretty decent price (like $15M or something), so I went for it. 

[Chris2K]

Not a franchise so much, but I have a save file on NBA2K24 that I'm simulating a rewritten NBA landscape thanks to MyNBA going back to 1982-83. Basically it's a controlled simulation, I have control over every team and deal with free agency, drafting, contract renewals and occasionally step in to change some rotations I don't think are right. I also have it set for the CPU to make trade scenarios which I judge to accept or decline depending on if I think they're fair.

For free agency I allow every team to re-sign one player during the season, and every other player is made available for teams to sign. Free agency itself is a draft, the order based on the previous season's standings (no lottery), but before it starts a team can choose to give up their free agency pick in order to re-sign a second player.

All the regular season games are simulated, then I put the first playoff game of every series and the potential series-deciding game of a series on a CPU v CPU game, which is mainly to grind VC whilst I play something else.

This is my second go-around, the first time I got to 1992 but found that I had been trying too hard to keep things as true to history as possible, to the extent that I traded away a first overall pick from the Bullets to the Spurs so they got David Robinson. So I started again, this time with a blank slate and telling myself to pretend reality never existed.

So far I'm in the third season, and the major things are:

The Lakers have won both championships so far, beating the 76ers in 1984 and the Celtics in 1985.
The Pacers got the #1 pick in 1984 and have Michael Jordan, and have made the play-offs as the 2nd seed in just his second season.
The Rockets have a decent frontcourt core of Ralph Sampson, Chris Mullin and Charles Barkley, but are still unable to get into the play-offs.
The Trail Blazers managed to get a #2 pick in 1984 despite getting into the play-offs thanks to a trade that I don't even remember, so they have a solid team of Fat Lever, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon which you'd think would be enough to challenge a soon-to-be Kareem-less Lakers.
The Spurs have Patrick Ewing from the #1 pick in 1985 but don't have much around him in their aging line-up.

The 1986 free agency is likely to be the most notable one so far as the Celtics haven't been able to keep Parrish, McHale and Bird, so its likely either Parrish or McHale is going to be available to sign depending on who I think is the better option at the time.

I'll throw some more in when I get home.

And more:

I was right about the Trail Blazers, but I'd forgotten they'd surpassed the Lakers and got the #1 seed in the West for the 1986 playoffs.

The Nuggets are the #2 seed because Alex English has just gone nuclear, he's up to a 96 OVR and averages 25/6/6.

Philly are dominating the East behind Erving and Malone, they've gone through to the conference finals with two sweeps against the Bulls (with Karl Malone) and the Cavaliers (who in real life would have had the #1 pick in 1986).

[VerbalPuke]

This is a cool idea. I'll share a bit later but I have a Madden 24 Franchise with my wonderful Lions.

[DMN in the House]

So, I was already mostly through that second season when I started this, plus I usually play as a deep bench player if I do play, and we finished the 1984-85 season with a championship, first seed in the West, fourth best record overall. We then went 15-0 in the playoffs, I played the first game of each series as Olajuwon, then the rest as the end of rotation guys. We did have some tough moments, Seattle in the first wasn't too bad, but the Jazz took us to overtime in the first two games before we pulled away. The Clippers made the WCF from the 7th seed behind a great post-season by Terry Cummings, but didn't have the horses to keep up with us.

We faced Detroit, off back to back seven game series, including an ECF over Boston, who arrived a little earlier than IRL, mostly on the back of IT and Laimbeer. They had home court, and were tough in the first two, but I have deep bench players better than their rotation players, so, especially with their backup big, Bill Walton out, they just didn't have enough to keep up.

No draft picks or cap space this season, so the only big move was swapping Bob McAdoo, my third C for Robert Reid to be my 2nd SF. It gives me a solid ten in rotation, although the deeper bench will be weaker this year.

[Gazz]

Those looking for a cheap franchise game should take a look at RetroBowl and RetroBowl College on iOS and Android. I don't have any interest in American Football and I've sank hours and hours into both of them. £1 each for the full version.

[VerbalPuke]

I've been doing Madden franchises for a few years now. Almost always as the Lions. They're somewhat less fun now because the team isn't ass, but navigating the salary cap is. 

I started in 2024 with a mostly accurate roster and simmed up until the midway point where the Lions were 2-6. Yikes. I think the first game I played was against the Raiders and began my ascent from there. 

So we win that game going into the bye week with some momentum, then i get the Chargers that are without Justin Herbert and I dispatch. I liked the little storyline of the Lions trying to get hot and getting the benefit of a team missing their QB. Is it a fluke?

I took over from there. The Bears and Packers were leading the division, tied at this point. The Lions go on a winning streak. Goff gets hot, Hutch starts unleashing holy terror on opposing QBs, and Gibbs would supplant an often injured David Montgomery. 

We get into the playoffs as the third divisional winner after a remarkable turn around. 

I draw Carolina in round 1 and beat their ass. Art imitates life as in round 2 I host Matthew Stafford and the Rams. The Dline makes Staffords life hell and he is sent packing. 

So then its a showdown with the 49ers. I avenge the real life and set up a super bowl match with the Ravens.

Then I beat the Ravens, yay. Jahmyr Gibbs is the Super Bowl mvp after an electric performance. 

Off-season is actually my favorite part of the game. 

I re-sign Chauncey Gardner Johnson to a fair 2 year extension. The timing works nice as I have Ifeatu Melifonwu developing behind him. Plus as other extensions come up, Chaunceys will expire. 

I manage to bring back both Graham Glasgow and Jonah Jackson on very reasonable deals. This allows me to focus on other positions in the draft. 

As for external free agents, I dont go to crazy here. My one splash signing is Stephon Gilmore. He's a great fit because he can be my number 1 and push Sutton to a #2 role and because his younger brother is on the team. The intention here is to hopefully have him hold one side down and draft a rookie or two to learn. 

I made a play for Bryce Huff to shore up the dline but he chose the Raiders. 

I'll update later going toward the draft as there is a bold move to be made.

But my aim in this draft was to get a corner that can see the field immediately, edge rusher help, oline depth to develop, and a number 3 WR to replace Josh Reynolds. 

[Krabby]

20 hours ago, Chris2K said:

Not a franchise so much, but I have a save file on NBA2K24 that I'm simulating a rewritten NBA landscape thanks to MyNBA going back to 1982-83. Basically it's a controlled simulation, I have control over every team and deal with free agency, drafting, contract renewals and occasionally step in to change some rotations I don't think are right. I also have it set for the CPU to make trade scenarios which I judge to accept or decline depending on if I think they're fair.

Yeah I am definitely planning on doing one of these watcher simulation games with BBGM as well but with really messing with NBA history haha

[VerbalPuke]

I noticed you all mentioning that you are doing historical simulations of the NBA on the 2K games. Do they actually have historically accurate rosters, drafts, and such? How far does it go back? Can you start at any era? That sounds fucking cool as hell. God I'd love to re-do the 2003 draft for the Pistons. 

[Krabby]

6 hours ago, VerbalPuke said:

I noticed you all mentioning that you are doing historical simulations of the NBA on the 2K games. Do they actually have historically accurate rosters, drafts, and such? How far does it go back? Can you start at any era? That sounds fucking cool as hell. God I'd love to re-do the 2003 draft for the Pistons. 

Speaking for myself I plan Basketball GM by ZenGM. You could defs redo that draft on there with real players.

[DMN in the House]

6 hours ago, VerbalPuke said:

I noticed you all mentioning that you are doing historical simulations of the NBA on the 2K games. Do they actually have historically accurate rosters, drafts, and such? How far does it go back? Can you start at any era? That sounds fucking cool as hell. God I'd love to re-do the 2003 draft for the Pistons. 

They added an 'Eras' mode in 2k23, which had four eras, one starting in 1983 [Bird/Magic], one in 1992 [Jordan], one in 2002 [Kobe] and then Modern [2023-24 season]. I think 2k24 tweaked the years some. 

The stock rosters and draft classes are ok, but the draft classes are missing a LOT of people and the rosters are going to be missing guys like Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley. At least for 23, there were created rosters and draft classes for each year that were very good.

It's not perfect, some of the cap stuff is a little anachronistic, but it's a lot of fun.

[Chris2K]

2K24 kept the original years, but added a LeBron era in 2010 to fill the gap from Kobe to modern day.

I download a specific user's draft class every time (I think it's called HuffHoops), it has about 25-30 players to draft (including all the 2K holdouts like Barkley, Reggie Miller and Rasheed Wallace to name just a few) and the rest are just fake players at 50 OVR who fade into irrelevance straight away. 

I've always liked how they completely re-designed the graphics for each era, especially the older eras with an overlay that really looks like a 1980s TV picture.

[DMN in the House]

7 hours ago, Chris2K said:

2K24 kept the original years, but added a LeBron era in 2010 to fill the gap from Kobe to modern day.

I download a specific user's draft class every time (I think it's called HuffHoops), it has about 25-30 players to draft (including all the 2K holdouts like Barkley, Reggie Miller and Rasheed Wallace to name just a few) and the rest are just fake players at 50 OVR who fade into irrelevance straight away. 

I've always liked how they completely re-designed the graphics for each era, especially the older eras with an overlay that really looks like a 1980s TV picture.

I don't know if the did them for 24, I'm sure someone did, but 2k23 had draft classes with 50+ real players (like, down to guys like Jorge 'Giant' Gonzalez, yes, that Giant Gonzalez). They're up under multiple names, but if you search '[year] 50+' (honestly, you only need the year and 5) they should pop up. They're what I use, although I do think some of the ratings are too 'flat', if that makes sense, most guys that get drafted are in the low 70s at worst, even if they washed out of the NBA irl.

[Chris2K]

So the Trail Blazers are the 1986 NBA champions, knocking out the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, and then the 76ers in the NBA finals. The combination of scoring from Fat Lever and Clyde Drexler alongside the defence of Hakeem Olajuwon made for an unstoppable force.

To be honest, the 76ers did well to get there after losing Julius Erving halfway through the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers, but Moses Malone kept them going, only to fall two games short. The game even suggested giving Malone the Finals MVP award (he averaged 35.7 points and 19.5 rebounds in 6 games), but I overruled that for realism reasons and gave it to Olajuwon.

The Pacers did well themselves, getting past the Celtics in 6, and have gone from having the worst record in 1984 to the conference final in 1986. This Michael Jordan guy might have a future.

Someone who doesn't have an NBA future is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who retires after 17 years in the league, naturally going straight into the Hall of Fame and having #33 retired by both the Bucks and the Lakers. Joining him in the retirement pool is Elvin Hayes, Spencer Haywood, Wes Unseld, Pete Marovich and Phil Jackson. Hayes also heads into the Hall of Fame with Kareem.

The regular season awards were MVP to Magic Johnson, Rookie of the Year to Karl Malone of the Chicago Bulls, 6th Man of the year to Mitchell Wiggins of the Cavaliers, and Defensive Player of the Year to Hakeem Olajuwon. 

It's not a great draft line-up this year so the 11 win Washington Bullets probably won't be as annoyed as they could be that the draft lottery resulted in them picking 4th. The Hawks end up with the #1 pick, whilst the Knicks fall from the second worst record to the 6th pick.

The #1 pick stays the same but to a different team, as the Hawks select Brad Daugherty. The Sacramento Kings select Ron Harper #2, the Spurs select Mark Price at #3, and the Bullets select Chuck Person at #4. At #5 the Houston Rockets add Kenny Walker to their young core, whilst the Knicks select some guy called Dennis Rodman, who I'm sure will have no distractions in New York City. The Seattle SuperSonics select Dell Curry, and will be hoping the city will be a good home for any future kids he might have, and the Jazz select Arvydas Sabonis at #8. The 9th pick sees Kevin Duckworth go to the Suns, and the Bulls take Buck Johnson at #10. The Cavaliers pick #11 instead of #1 as they did in reality, and select Chris Washburn, the New Jersey Nets select Scott Skiles at #12, and the Golden Stae Warriors choose John Williams at #13.

The Mavericks go for Jeff Hornacek at #14, and the Cavaliers are back at #15 for Drazen Petrovic. The Bucks select John Salley at #16, whilst the Pacers bring in Nate McMillan at #17, followed by Mark Alarie going to the Nuggets at #18. The Celtics add William Bedford at #10, whilst the 76ers take Harold Pressley at #20, and the Nuggets pick again with Billy Thompson at #21. The Lakers pick Johnny Newman at #22, and the final pick of the first round is Kenny Gattison to the Trail Blazers. I'll spare you the 2nd round.

The major free agency pickups were James Edwards to the Knicks, Jamaal Wilkes to the Kings, Mark Eaton to the Rockets, Butch Carter to the Spurs and Buck Williams to the Nets. My plans for free agency to be a big deal with lots of available players to "draft" isn't quite working out as planned so far.

On to 1986-87 we go...

[Chris2K]

The 1987 season is in the books, and the Trail Blazers repeat thanks to another fine performance from Hakeem Olajuwon. The final four were the same as 1986, with the Trail Blazers beating the Lakers again, but this time the Pacers overcame the 76ers to make the finals, and even won the first game, only to lose in 5. The Pacers have gone from worst record (getting the #1 pick to draft MJ) to first round of playoffs, to eastern conference finals, to NBA finals in four seasons. Only one step left to go...

The biggest improvements were the Hawks going from #1 pick to the fourth seed in the playoffs, and the Kings going from second pick to sixth seed. Not so much luck for Bullets who had the worst record for the second season in a row, and the SuperSonics have now finished in the lowest four teams for all four seasons.

Olajuwon was also regular season MVP and Defensive Player of the Year to add to the Finals MVP, Mark Price of the Spurs won Rookie of the Year despite the success the Hawks had with Brad Daugherty, Wes Matthews was 6th Man of the Year, and Tony Campbell of the Suns won Most Improved.

The only noteworthy retirement was Bob Lanier of the Pistons.

Again the Bullets fell to a worse pick in the lottery, with the Knicks getting the #1 pick (CONSPIRACY~!), the Spurs #2, Bullets #3, Nets #4 and the Bulls #5 thanks to a trade with the Nuggets. Draft is below, spoilered for your convenience:

Spoiler

1. Knicks - David Robinson (C)
2. Spurs - Scottie Pippen (SF)
3. Bullets - Reggie Miller (SG)
4. Nets - Mark Jackson (PG)
5. Bulls - Reggie Williams (SF)
6. Jazz - Kevin Johnson (PG)
7. SuperSonics - Horace Grant (PF)
8. Clippers - Olden Polynice (C)
9. Suns - Reggie Lewis (SG)
10. Kings - Joe Wolf (C)
11. Bulls - Kenny Smith (PG)
12. Pistons - Derrick McKey (SF)
13. Suns - Greg Anderson (PF)
14. Cavaliers - Kevin Gamble (SF)
15. Warriors - Muggsy Bogues (PG)
16. Rockets - Winston Garland (PG)
17. Rockets (again) - Tellis Frank (PF)
18. Celtics - Dennis Hopson (SG)
19. Pacers - Chris Dudley (C)
20. 76ers - Ron Grandison (PF)
21. Lakers - Donald Royal (SF)
22. Mavericks - Sarunas Marciulionis (SG)
23. Trail Blazers - Vincent Askew (SG)

And the last real player for the 2nd round

24. Bullets - Doug Lee (SG)

I introduced bidding wars for free agents, still allowing teams to keep 1 player rather than sign a free agent immediately (so all the 1984 draft big names stayed with their teams), wackiness ensued when Ennis Whatley chose the Bullets over the Celtics, and Chris Mullin opted for the Warriors instead of staying with the Rockets. The Celtics then lost out at Darnell Valentine to the Pacers (they like losing to the Pacers), and ended up with Maurice Cheeks. The 76ers grabbed Derek Harper to take advantage of the Mavericks not being able to keep two players, but the biggest player to move talent wise may be George Gervin, leaving the Spurs to join the Hawks.

Can David Robinson be the man to revitalise the Knicks?

Bonus content: Here's a guide to each team's best three players just to give an overview of what the NBA world is like:

Spoiler

76ers - Moses Malone (93), Andrew Toney (88), Derek Harper (86) - 38 year old Julius Erving still has an 83 rating

Bucks - Sindey Moncrief (90), Marques Johnson (86), Paul Pressey (85)

Bullets - Ennis Whatley (84), Detlef Schrempf (80), Reggie Miller (80)

Bulls - Karl Malone (89), Reggie Theus (82), Quintin Dailey (81)

Cavaliers - John Bagley (87), Cliff Robinson (84), World B. Free (82)

Celtics - Larry Bird (97), Kevin McHale (82), Robert Parrish (81)

Clippers - Terry Cummings (85), Frankie Johnson (82), Kevin Willis (81)

Hawks - Dominque Wilkins (88), George Gervin (88), Doc Rivers (86)

Jazz - Adrian Dantley (90), Thurl Bailey (83), Arvydas Sabonis (81)

Kings - Eddie Johnson (86), Ron Harper (84), Larry Drew (83)

Knicks - Joe Dumrs (88), Bernard King (87), David Robinson (86)

Lakers - Magic Johnson (97), James Worthy (91), Michael Cooper (86)

Mavericks - Mark Aguirre (95), Geoff Huston (81), Terry Porter (81)

Nets - Alvin Robertson (84), Mark Jackson (83), Albert King (80)

Nuggets - Alex English (94), Kirk Vandeweghe (90), Rob Williams (84)

Pacers - Michael Jordan (97), Clark Kellogg (83), Darnell Valentine (83)

Pistons - Isaiah Thomas (93), Wes Matthews (81), Kelly Tripucka (80)

Rockets - Ralph Sampson (84), Charles Barkley (83), Kenny Walker 981)

Spurs - Patrick Ewing (92), Mark Price (81), Hot Rod Williams (81)

Suns - John Stockton (86), Larry Nance (81), Tony Campbell (81)

SuperSonics - Jack Sikma (88), Gus Williams (85), Xavier McDaniel (84)

Trail Blazers - Hakeem Olajuwon (96), Clyde Drexler (91), Fat Lever (88) - I wonder why they're the current champions...

Warriors - Sleepy Floyd (91), Chris Mullin (87), Purvis Short (86)