Foreword: This year's show was awesome! I remember how much I used to love playing with Garnett and Cassell on the old Timberwolves. I haven't delved into it this year because I'm only focusing on the Bucks and Hyundai. But it's pretty cool to be able to play in the midst of Garnett, Kobe, Iverson, Shaq and others.

Below is my personal experience.

I played from the Magic/Birds and currently have that experience in the Kobe era. I was with LeBron and his class in 2003 as a current rookie. When some draft classes get better at using rosters made by XvClutch and MJWizards, end up starting different games, then editing coaches in those modes to emphasize retired players versus 2K staff like Michael Stover and those guys.

I played with some house rules to prevent me from over-stacking, my team became too OP and it wasn't fun anymore. Basically just do the trades that the CPU gives me, or use the trade finder to find people on the block, or the players on my team, the CPU team as a target, they have to make sense for the CPU team. It helps the draft the most, so I can't just build up potential high future picks for the current late first man while also fielding a competitive team. It still happens, but it makes role players more important because you don't have stars/future stars at every position. I use automatic controls and deal approvals for all teams, so I can maintain a little influence over the league. I have teams accepting all CPU-CPU deals involving first-round picks for more interesting drafts.

Starting with the Bulls, as my team, actually got MJ's 3rd. Olajuwon No. 1, Eagles; Stockton actually got No. 2, Clippers. MJ was injured during his rookie season at the All-Star Game, so that made me lose enough in '85 to get the third pick again. Chris Mullin actually got the No. 1 pick at that level with the Pacers, which is what I think I'd get at No. 3 (the Pacers had some crazy draft picks in the '80s, which made it a Fun, consistent, but not great team.) They just have a ton of shooters. Malone finished second with the Kings, so I ended up picking Ewing in third. Jordan and Ewing became an all-time duo from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s.

The East finally came back full, my Bulls, Olajuwon in Atlanta, the Celtics; the Pistons took Gary Payton with the No. 1 pick in the 90th round, which makes Isiah a great backcourt player, And a cool consolation prize for never getting Dumars. The Knicks have a nasty twin tower with David Robinson and Sabonis. They're a problem, especially Robinson at the 4. The aforementioned Pacers are a dangerous 4-6 seed with Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin and Danny Manning.

The Eastern Conference playoffs are a bloodbath, with an Eastern team winning championships every year, probably for more than a decade, save for one Lakers championship. Shaq came to Portland and just dominated the West. With the arrival of the old Drexler, he led the team to six straight finals, but only won once, this is my Bulls team.

Now in the 2000s, I have a 40-year-old Jordan ready to retire. And Scottie Pippen (who spent most of his career playing point guard for me and was a 3-time MVP!), who is also retiring. I kind of wish they went out together. Vince Carter has replaced MJ as the team's offensive No. 1, which is cool in the parallels and the UNC connection but has struggled in the playoffs with MJ serving as his mentor.

This model is incredible, even if it has some drawbacks. For the first year of trying, they did a really good job. If you want to get good players in this game, you need to buy a lot of packages, so I often go to NBA2king to buy NBA 2K23 MT, and I can always get a lot of surprises there!