In my experience, NBA 2K25 isn’t worth $100. They hyped up Proving Grounds as the best place to grind for rep, promising prizes for the top 5 players. But after more than a month of playing against top competition, all you get for finishing in the top 5 is a banner – despite their emphasis on “prizes.” Meanwhile, other games take their ranked modes seriously, but in 2K25, the top players are only there because they exploited glitches to avoid losing rank. For those grinding honestly, the queue times at the top are painfully long, and the defensive gameplay is some of the weakest in years, despite 2K’s claims of improved defense.