NBA 2K21

The game itself plays similarly to previous installments in the series. The player mainly plays NBA games with real-life or customized players and teams; games follow the rules and objectives of NBA games. Several game modes are present and many settings can be customized. Up to six expansion teams can be created and used in both MyLeague and MyGM Modes, with the possibility of a 36-team league, and any team can be relocated and rebranded. For the second time in series, all 12 WNBA teams are available to play as. There are 67 classic teams available, with the 2018–19 Toronto Raptors, 2016–17 Golden State Warriors, and 2015–16 Cleveland Cavaliers being among them.

A staple of the series, MyCareer, returns as one of the available game modes. MyCareer is a career mode in which the player creates their own customizable basketball player and plays through their basketball career. Players may make a male or female player, although female is only available on next-gen consoles.[8] The Neighborhood also returns to MyCareer, as 2K Beach, in which players can customize their wardrobe, get haircuts and tattoos, and purchase boosts. They can also do their workouts and run drills to improve their attributes at their current team's practice facility. Progress in MyCareer may not carry over across generations, due to some changes made exclusively for next-gen.

In the next-generation release for the game, The MyCareer online staple The Neighborhood mode was rebranded into The City with the return of affiliations from NBA 2K16. Players start in Rookieville where they play similarly low-levelled players before they can choose an affiliation to enter The City. MyRep, the level system exclusive to The City mode, is shared across all MyPlayer builds, so players only have to level up out of Rookieville once for all their characters. Once a player levels out of Rookieville, they are automatically assigned without choice to one of four of The City's affiliations, ranging from the North Side Knights, South City Vipers, Beasts of the East, and the Western Wildcats. Players are free to switch their affiliation, however they are penalized for doing so by their level being reset down to Pro 1; same level the player was from leaving Rookieville. Although the player can play in affiliations that they are not a member of, there is a penalty by reducing the amount of experience gained in matches for their MyRep level. Players can participate in quests given by NPCs, which are either single player 3v3 games against famous basketball players, or playing games against other MyPlayers in The City. The rewards are typically Virtual Currency (VC) and customizations.[9]

Every affiliation has elections for a Mayor, which are typically community influencers who are responsible for making videos that display in-game, court designs, in-game playlists, design of murals, and uniform selections. Each mayoral term lasts 6 weeks.[9]

NBA 2K21, for the ninth time in the series, features MyTeam mode, a mode based around the idea of building the ultimate basketball team and maintaining a virtual trading card collection. Players assemble and play with their team in basketball tournament-style competitions against other players' teams in several formats. Assets for a team are acquired through various means, including randomized card packs and the auction house. Virtual Currency (VC) is used extensively within the mode. Progress in MyTeam will carry over across generations.

There are many changes made to MyTeam this year, the most notable one is the adaption of a Seasons format just like most games, which has exclusive rewards that get better each season. An all-new Limited mode is added, where every weekend, players compete for rings to get seasonal rewards. By the word itself, there are some limitations to what cards you can use in Limited each weekend. Ascension is a new minigame where you flip cards and try to get the top prize in the third level. The Exchange is a new feature where you trade cards to get even better cards. Unlimited is changed to have nine different tiers, each one with its own reward for advancing. The gem levels from Amethyst to Galaxy Opal have been adjusted to leave space for a new level for cards with a 99 rating, which could be teased in the courtside report as Dark Matter.

NBA 2K21 features both MyLeague and MyGM from previous games, where the player can take the helm of a franchise and fully simulate an NBA season while making trades, drafting, and playing games with their teams. Compared to prior titles, eighth-generation console releases of NBA 2K21 were left with little changes for their staple franchise modes, MyLeague and MyGM. Outside of roster changes, the main changes focuses with MyLeague Online where certain users can be given different admin control. WNBA teams were also given more representation as players were now able to play through a whole season with all 12 teams.[10]

In the Xbox One X/S and PS5 release of the game, MyGM and MyLeague were combined and rebranded into MyNBA. Instead of the role-playing aspects such as cutscenes, player morale, and tasks being locked solely to MyGM, they are now individually toggleable under role-playing elements before one starts MyNBA. NBA G League games are also playable as well, however playoffs and the championship for the NBA G League are not featured. A boom/bust system was revamped as well, giving more unpredictability to draft prospects and young players in terms of how their career will turnout.[11]