ESPN NBA Basketball was the one franchise game

ESPN NBA Basketball was the one franchise game with  no 2K included in its name. It would have been an almost identical version of NBA 2K4. The game was all-in with the ESPN aspect of the program and also saw Iverson appear on the cover for the last time.

This was the penultimate installment that was released prior to the formation of 2K Sports. ESPN NBA Basketball had unique faces for every player. It also improved the system for passing and focused on the 24 hours a day mode. There were a lot of streetball elements. It was highly praised for gameplay visuals, graphics, as well as presentation.

NBA 2K11 was a pivotal moment for the games. Though none of them received bad reviews but they did stagnate at times as the 2000s came to an end. This was a step up for a handful of reasons. The most interesting was the addition of the cover athlete Michael Jordan, who hadn't been in a game for several years.

The Jordan Challenge mode was heavily applauded by the players who had the opportunity to recreate Jordan's famous moments. The mode also saw that there were other teams and players from the past. It's all about the soundtrack and features like D-League Association mode.

How did 2K Sports continue the success of NBA 2K11's? They took what was the best of what they had and improved it. Jordan was joined by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as cover sportsmen, proving that the show was digging into the past of classic teams and paying tribute to  the greats from the past.