With the National Basketball Association (NBA) season rapidly approaching, basketball fans have surely raced to buy the brand new NBA 2K25 video game to play. NBA video games have been around for several decades, varying in quality and popularity. More recently, the 2K games have been hit or miss. 2K25 received mixed reviews, with 8/10 Game Stop users responding positively. The same game received 1.8 stars from fans only. The game featured a handful of improvements, including more realistic player movements and an updated career mode after last year’s flop.

While 2K is looking to make a comeback among fans, let’s take a look at some of the all-time best NBA basketball video games.

NBA Street Volume 2 | Released 2003

NBA Street Volume 2 is a product of EA Sports BIG, the arcade sports arm of EA Sports. Released in early 2003, NBA Street Volume 2 is the sequel to NBA Street, which was released a year earlier. Similar to the original version, NBA Street Volume 2 is an arcade-style basketball game in a 3-v-3 street basketball format. The game featured 29 NBA teams from the 2002-03 season and four different game modes. NBA Street, along with its counterpart NFL Street, were largely popular and are still cult favorites for gaming fans. Among some of the best basketball star game review websites online, NBA Street Volume 2 is recognized as one of the best basketball games of its time.

Like newer 2K games, NBA Street allowed for unlockable NBA legends, including Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. In fact, there are three different versions of Michael Jordan that can be played: 1985 Bulls Jordan, 1996 Bulls Jordan, and Washington Wizards Jordan.

NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC | Released 1999

Developed by the popular 1990s arcade-style video game company Midway, NBA Showtime is an arcade-style basketball game that was modeled after NBA on NBC broadcasts. The game was revolutionary, including the first 3D polygonal graphics, and featured the real uniforms for all the featured teams. While NBA Showtime was wildly popular, its NFL counterpart NFL Blitz 2000 is arguably the best game made by Midway.

Still, NBA Showtime was a hit for Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Dreamcast players across the world. The game was similar to NBA Street, featuring 2-v-2 gameplay rather than typical 5-v-5 NBA action, but unlike NBA Street, each game was set as an actual NBA game. Users were able to pick any two players from NBA starting line-ups before the game and could change their players at halftime. The game also included fouling, with players getting free throws after a certain number of fouls. And like future sports games, NBA Showtime introduced gamers to an “on fire” feature that is automatically added to any player who made three consecutive shots.

NBA Jam | Released 1993

Another arcade-style game, NBA Jam was developed by Midway and was the oldest game on our list. Noted for its advanced, photorealistic graphics, NBA Jam used a hyperbolic style of gameplay. The speed and jumping ability of players far exceeded the real-life attributes of players. NBA Jam was a popular game on PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and all other popular consoles, but is probably best remembered for the arcade game version, which was so popular that it’s still being redistributed as a personal arcade game.

The NBA Jam brand itself goes beyond the original consoles, with versions being released for the Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, along with NBA Jam: On Fire Edition being released in 2011. Arguably the greatest game on this list, the popular video game magazine Next Generation ranked NBA Jam as the 99th greatest game of all time, with the author writing that “NBA Jam is still a terrific game, especially in the arcade with four players. Many of its innovations are now cliche, but it remains one of the best arcade machines around.” Fans have begged for a re-release of this classic game, but it likely won’t happen.

NBA Live 2005 | Released 2004

Developed by EA Canada and released in early 2004 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Microsoft Windows, NBA Live 2005 is the 11th installment of NBA Live. The most realistic game on this list, NBA Live featured 5-v-5 action and contained realistic gameplay options, like the NBA All-Star Weekend. It included a create-a-player mode, where gamers create their own player and customize what they look like, the gear they wear, and the college they attend. It doesn’t quite have the realism of the NBA 2K series, with 2K25 featuring some of the most realistic gameplay to date, but it’s not too far off.

The 2005 edition of NBA Live was received well, netting an 84/100 and 85/100 on PS2 and Xbox respectively among the Metacritic aggregate scores. It ended as the 24th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006.

What Is The Next Great NBA Game?

For NBA fans, the 2K series still represents the best opportunity for another great NBA game. Developers have rebooted some older games, but none have been as popular as the original. For that reason, fans will look to NBA 2K26 to see if they can continue to improve what used to be a classic game.