NBA2K and eSports are terms that have not necessarily belonged together until now. But why is basketball inferior to other sports franchises in eSports – and what could be done about it?
NBA 2K23 is in the starting blocks, the covers of the various editions have been fixed since last week. With Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball legends of all time graces the cover of the Championship Edition. A superstar who embodies the charisma of the sport like no other. A charisma that does not seem to want to spill over into basketball e-sports.
According to basketball expert and podcaster André ‘Dré’ Voigt, the series actually has a lot to offer as an immersive eSport: “NBA 2K has come a long way as a simulation in the last five to ten years. Under the conditions you have, the game is mapped in a way that’s really crazy.”
The fact that it still hasn’t been enough for the franchise’s big eSports throwdown so far is attributed by Sebastian Moritz, for his part, to one thing in particular: a lack of visibility. The former EA social media manager and active basketball player also holds the media responsible. He says that the media showed how to present a niche sport in an appealing way when dealing with football.
A treatment that was not given to basketball: “On television, the NBA never made it to big broadcasting times, if you look at what was on ‘DSF’. The fact that basketball has a niche existence here also has an effect on eSports.
Media attention as a start-up aid
According to Jan ‘GamingAlm’ Bergmann, there is a decisive difference in this point, especially in comparison to football. “We get football as a role model every day in Germany,” says the FUT trader, talk host and NBA fan.
For him, this results in a better understanding of the sport: “You know immediately what a crass action is because you can basically understand the game. And the sport of basketball is not that ingrained in people’s minds.” To change this, Bergmann and Moritz agree, “the thing has to be as present as football, you can’t miss it.”
But even with the appropriate attention for the sport, access remains difficult for host Christian Gürnth: “The entry hurdle for football is lower. Maybe basketball is also too frustrating at first. “
Adjustment can also be a problem for the podcaster: “Maybe the sport is ‘too cool’ and you don’t want to embarrass yourself. I feel like basketball is always played by those who are so good that I’m scared to even do it.”
An observation Bergmann backs up with his experience as a coach in football from official associations: “We don’t have this breadth in basketball as we do in football. Because of that, the level is automatically higher, because the large mass of teams has a certain level that you have to get to first.”
In addition, the 38-year-old needs more role models: “You need idols,” says ‘GamingAlm’, who points to another sport for comparison: “Let’s think back to our marriage in tennis, for example. With Boris Becker, Steffi Graf or Michael Stich, we had idols in Germany in a sport that might not have appealed to the masses before. You need that platform, you need those idols and that’s what basketball lacks. “
2K monopoly is not “easy to learn “
In addition to the real sport, however, Moritz says there would also be a high barrier to entry in the games themselves: “An eSports title excels at being ‘easy to learn’ and ‘hard to master’ and I think the ‘easy to learn’ factor gets in the way of that a bit with NBA2K because of the complexity.”
His counter-proposal is to break up the 2K monopoly: “Now it’s also about shaking up the market here, bringing a competitor to the start and seeing if there isn’t maybe a different approach there gameplay-wise.”
Specifically, for him it could go in the direction of NBA Street, “where the hurdle is lower”. These arcade titles “could have potential”. But whether the potential of the classic can be exploited is another matter, André Voigt knows: “One would wish for something like that to come again. But it has to be good – and that’s not so easy.”
