NBA 2K: How to Play With Friends, Explained

The NBA 2K experience is much different and arguably a better one when you have friends to play with. Whether you’re playing 2v2 with them or against them in an online match, the stakes are always higher when a friend or two are in the mix. However, whenever a new 2K is released, there are always some players who find it difficult to play with their friends.

This is sometimes chalked up to crossplay, as the feature is great to play with friends on other platforms, but only if you know how to use it. The other issue is the UI in 2K, as it’s not the best when it comes to understanding how to navigate the social part of the game.

To help you understand all of the ways to play with friends in 2K, check out the guide below.

How To Join And Invite Friends in NBA 2K

When it comes down to it, all you want to do with your friends in 2K is either join their lobby or invite them to yours. The easiest way to do this is to bring up the Social menu, where all of your friends are currently displayed and you’re able to send and accept friend requests.

To bring up the Social menu, hit L1+R1 on PlayStation or LB+RB on Xbox. You’ll now see a screen that displays your online friends and allows you to join their game sessions or invite them to yours by selecting their name and choosing the option you want.

Of course, if you don’t have a friend added, then you need to get them on your list. To do that, scroll over to the “Friends” tab in the Social menu. Here, you can add friends through a couple of different methods. If you’re adding a friend on the same platform as you, all you need to do is type in their PlayStation, Xbox, or 2K account name in the search bar. Once you find them, send them a friend request, wait for them to accept it, and then join or invite them after they’re on your friends list. You can also accept friend requests you’ve received from this tab as well.

However, if you’re trying to add a player through crossplay who isn’t on your platform, the process is a little bit different. Since your friend isn’t on your platform, you need to add them via the name on their 2K Card. This is their unique in-game name, and you need to type it exactly as it appears on that card in the search bar of the Friends tab.

After you’ve done so, your friend should receive a friend request that they can accept through the Social menu. Sometimes, you’ll need to restart your application for your friend to appear on your friends list after they have accepted the request, and vice versa if your friend sent you a request.

In any case, once you are friends with the person you want to be friends with, you or they can invite you to their lobby. You can also join their lobby if their party settings are set to “Open,” but if they’re set to “Private,” you’ll need an invite to join. You can access your party settings from the Social menu as well to dictate who can join your lobby.

Once you have your friends added, you can play with them in The City to play some pick-up games, or you can simply invite them to a Quick Play match in 2K. All you need is for your friend to be in your party, which you can view from the Social menu.

That’s all we have on playing with friends in NBA 2K. Hopefully, your friends list starts to fill up so you always have someone to hoop with.