This year I returned to another big sports series after a long 4+ year hiatus — NBA 2K27. I know I played a little NBA 2K25, 2K23, and 2K21, but the last one I really dove into was the year of the NBA Bubble season (aka COVID year). What a crazy time that was, and still basketball found a way to survive.
Back then, my Miami Heat still had Bam Adebayo as their main guy. My strategy for winning games was to give the ball to Bam down low. It was like back in the day when the Heat had Shaq. I could pass the ball to the BIG SHAQ-TUS down low and have him dunk on anyone.
NBA 2K27 is much different now. The real-world NBA is much different now. There are new ways to play NBA 2K27. Many of my favorite tactics no longer work or exist. The NBA is different now than it has ever been — traveling is no longer a thing.
NBA | THEN vs NOW [Miami Heat Edition]
Back when I was a kid (the ’90s and early ’00s) most of the great NBA teams had one-to-two All-Star players. If you were lucky your team had the ideal combination of a big guy (PF/C) and a small guy (PG/SG) to lead your team to the Playoffs. There were also teams that centered around one All-Star player, with a collection of pretty good dudes supporting them.
In the early days, the Miami Heat had the Tim Hardaway/Alonzo Mourning connection, with some pretty good support — Glen Rice, PJ Brown, Jamal Mashburn, Eddie Jones, and others throughout the years. We were a Playoff team, but never made it too far — thanks to the G.D. Knicks!
Once we got Dwyane Wade in the draft he became our main guy, and it wasn’t until we secured Shaquille O’Neal that we finally became 2006 NBA Champions — our first in franchise history!
The Miami Heat franchise began when I was two years old, during the 1988-1989 season. Of all of my local teams they were always my main one — Heat, Dolphins, Marlins, Panthers. I watched most games as a kid, holding onto my lucky basketball and it would hurt whenever we would lose — which was many times.
Once the Heat got LeBron and Chris Bosh I became less interested in the NBA. I felt like we were cheating by having so much talent. This is when the NBA transformed and every team became obsessed with creating their own version of “The Big Three.” It went from needing two All-Star players to three (or more). Certain teams were OP (Overpowered) with too many greats on their roster.
Losing the NBA Finals that 2010-2011 season with LeBron, I couldn’t believe it. How did we not win? We were basically cheating with our roster. Then we won back-to-back Championships before losing the fourth one. Still, we made it to the NBA Finals all four seasons with LeBron. For Heat fans it was great, for the rest of the league fans it was annoying — like seeing Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl year-after-year.
During the pandemic I became interested in basketball again, thanks to the NBA Bubble Season — where all the players were supposedly staying quarantined in Orlando to play a basketball season. This got me to come back to NBA 2K20 or NBA 2K21 — whichever one it was that year.
It was also a great year for the Miami Heat as runner-ups (or biggest loser) in the Bubble Finals vs the Los Angeles Lakers. Our team was made up of Bam Adebayo and plenty of new talent — like Tyler Herro (who we don’t talk about anymore).
After the bubble season I stopped caring about basketball again, but I always kept up with the Miami Heat’s record through my ESPN app. When the Heat acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo this off-season I became curious again.
What would it be like to see two big dudes (Bam and Giannis) sharing the court? Spoiler Alert! It started off not so great, but has gotten better. There’s also Klay Thompson, and the big reason I came back was for Timmy Jr. — Tim Hardaway was my favorite Heat player growing up.
What I’ve learned this year, after watching some NBA games, is that the League has gone through another transformation. There must be something in the water these kids are drinking — or is it Michael’s Secret Stuff? The big dudes are now bigger than ever (Victor Wembanyama is 7’4” and amazing). Also, they can shoot threes and move around like a little dude. They can even make free throws — sorry, Shaq.
Is there any reason for NBA players to have designated positions today? Everyone can do it all! Imagine if an NFL Quarterback were also the punter, kicker, and catching passes. It’s pure insanity, and I’m here for it. This new NBA is exciting because you have no idea what will happen. Every game goes well into the 100s, in four quarters.
Another thing I’m here for — most NBA players are huge nerds. They dress up as anime and video game characters. The NBA is so much cooler today than it has ever been. That’s why I came back to NBA 2K27.
MY START WITH THE MIAMI HEAT
After downloading NBA 2K27, I immediately did what I do in every sports game — start a season/franchise with my team, the Miami Heat! The real-life Heat had a terrible start to their season, losing four games in a row before scoring their first win against the Atlanta Hawks — I did the same thing (not on purpose).
After my long absence there’s been a major learning curve getting back into NBA 2K27. I thought I could just jump back in and score some points — I was wrong. I started off missing so many shots in those first two games. I have missed so many wide open dunks.
It was time to head back to 2K School (or Learn 2K) where I played through various tutorials — from the basics to the advanced. I still have some more homework.
In my third game with the Heat my defense started off strong with these new techniques I’d learned. The first quarter ended with me down 2-4, which means my defense was holding them down but my offense was still trash. That game got away from me and I ended up losing by ten or more points.
In the fourth game I kept it close and made it to Overtime! I did blow an almost ten point lead in the fourth quarter though. Overtime was rough and they trampled me. I went back to my Game 1-3 strategy of not scoring any points.
Our first win finally game in Game 5 (just like in real life). I was winning most of the time. The shooting was starting to click. In NBA 2K27 every shot is like a mini-game, you really have to watch the shot meter each time. Even when no one is around.
After my first win, by one point. My Miami Heat have been playing much better. I also like starting the season as an Underdog team trying to claw our way back to the top. There’s a good story there. Imagine if I made it to the Playoffs as the eight seed (or a wild card team, since that’s a new thing). It would make for a way better NBA Finals win — if we win.
This week, I decided to turn the difficulty down a notch — from Pro to Semi-Pro. I will continue to play on Semi-Pro until I learn the shot meter, and start cookin’ teams. I know I can win some games on Pro, but it is also frustrating to miss so many shots. So, for now Semi-Pro is the way to go in NBA 2K27.
*myVGBC.com was given a review code for NBA 2K27 by the publisher (2K Games).
**The photos in this post came from the 2K Newsroom — because it’s hard to get photos during gameplay in sports sims.
