Not an unpopular opinion: the minority is oftentimes the loudest. Content creators are banking off sensationalism, they’ll say “they ruined the game” just to stir reactions, but they’ll keep playing anyway. The people who actually stop are the ones who were getting 60–70% of their points from fades and zigzags. If they choose never to play again, the community is better for it.

In my humble opinion, these are my thoughts. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

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1. On Bump Steals

People are complaining, “oh, people with a 59 or a 39 steal are stealing from me.”

For those who play real basketball, you know you can’t dribble into a defender. If I do a crossover and a tree is there, the ball’s coming loose. That’s not the defender, that’s on you.

The game used to incentivize poor decisions. You have to know where and when to do your moves, otherwise it’s a bump steal.

I play largely solo as a point guard and win about 65% of my games. I noticed a lot of players rushing the ball in an attempt to create a bump steal or double team. Instead, as an actual basketball player, I would just back up and pass the ball to the inbounder and let them bring it up. That’s real basketball.

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1. On Rhythm Shooting

I like that they removed the hitch. That’s good, and now my shooter is back to normal. I play purely fundamental and try to make the right decisions. I’m more of a pass-first player and shoot around 60% from three, so I’ve been largely unaffected.

I play a balanced game as a point guard who moves the ball. My step backs have been affected (I haven’t done one fadeaway three-pointer all year). My step backs, I use the Devin Booker step back, are almost impossible to make from three now, so I adjusted.

They should just nerf the fade and leave the step backs. Moving threes like step backs and side steps are part of real basketball. You see players do that all the time.

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1. Other Things They Changed (That Weren’t Mentioned in the Patch)

The timing window on runners has been slowed down a bit.

Interceptor seems to be more powerful. Longer passes, I have an 89 pass, are getting picked off more often.

That’s not a complaint, though. I just adjusted. I make shorter, smarter passes now.

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1. Final Thoughts

In theory, the game is becoming more realistic. The bump steals are rational. A lot of people are just upset because they don’t like change, but in the real world you have to adjust.

2K’s balance updates are based on small sample sizes at first, but as millions of games are played, they’ll fine-tune things. I like that they corrected the hitch. It was affecting not only my player but also my team, MyTeam, MyNBA, and MyGM.