NBA 2K24 is getting closer to launch and there were some changes made to the MyPlayer Builder. There are more badges, Takeovers can’t be selected here (you’ll choose one during games, no matter your attributes), and the attribute system is supposed to be a bit more restricted according to folks who were at the 2K Community Day.
But another thing that was mentioned by a couple of 2K devs on Twitter is the addition of MyPlayer Builder Templates. These will allow you to instantly choose a build that is based off of NBA players. This is a really neat option if you are trying to model your game after specific players, and it’s also good for new NBA 2K players who want to simply choose a build and jump right into the action on the court.
We know that some of the players you can replicate include Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, and Nikola Jokic among several others, and at this time there are no legend templates. My guess is that these basically replace the “Replica Builds” from NBA 2K23. These were secret builds you could create that would net you the nickname of both current and past NBA players instead of the usual “Glass-Cleaning Lockdown” for example. If you replicated the attributes of Larry Bird in the game, for example, you would get “The Hick From French Lick” as your nickname.
But the templates are going to offer more than just giving you a cool nickname. According to Mike Wang and other developers, when you select a template, you will be given that player’s animations. So if a Nikola Jokic option is available, you’ll gain access to his buttery smooth off-the-dribble fadeaway and unique layup package among other things.
However, if you tweak the attributes of the template, you will not receive the animations. It all just depends on how important certain animations are to you. But it’s still nice to have the option to tweak the attributes. You may have dreams of modeling your MyPlayer after a real NBA pro, and so being able to edit this allows you to do just that while still making certain adjustments that suit your style of play.
Even if you don’t use a template for your first MyPlayer build in NBA 2K24, doing so may be fun for a second build. And over time, they can add more templates going forward (I have a feeling they’ll do just that), adding a fresh layer to the new feature. That would once again be like the Replicas as well.
And with 24 new badges this year, it’s going to be interesting to see how the template builds take advantage of these. And although Wang and other developers have pointed out that attributes will be more important than badges, they will still play a key role like always.
But we’ll end up seeing how popular or unpopular this feature is. Just like in college basketball, we’ve seen our share of “one and dones” as far as features go in sports games and templates obviously could be that if proven unpopular. And although it may not be the go-to option for experienced players, it may be a popular option among new players, which is accessibility I can appreciate.
