Some of the weirdest fan requests for NBA 2K20

There’s no denying the passion of the NBA 2K fanbase. And the game’s makers know all about this and harness this energy to improve the game.

Director of Digital Marketing Ronnie Singh aka Ronnie 2K and Mike “Beluba” Wang are the two masterminds behind NBA 2K’s outreach and marketing to fans. They’re also on the front line of fan requests, some of which can be pretty strange. Just how strange? We’ll share a few of them with you to give you some idea of how complex, nuanced, and varied expectations can be among video gamers.

1. ESPN commentators

One strange request that might baffle people who don’t watch ESPN’s First Take is the request for the devs to include commentators Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman. NBA2K has had a lot of complaints about its commentators in the past, so we don’t know how Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman would make this a better situation.

That said, they’re huge in the sports commentary world and we could see why fans of ESPN sports programming would want this extra touch of authenticity added into the game. Still, it’s so specific as to be weird. Even stranger, it was a fan from the United Kingdom who requested this feature in NBA 2K20.

Another snafu for that feature is that Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman are currently doing something with EA. So that is that.

2. Untucked player jerseys

A detail-oriented request that makes sense from the standpoint of people who love simulation and hate anything that smacks of artificiality, some fans would like for players to untuck their jerseys as they start to sweat and become hot.

Talk about minutiae, but it really does make sense if you’ve ever watched an NBA basketball game. No one runs around with their jersey perfectly tucked in the whole game, so this request makes sense even if it is bizarre.

3. In-game fights

A feature that probably won’t make it into the game but is kind of hilarious is that some fans think that NBA 2K20 should give players the option to fight the other team. Think a combination of hockey and street basketball, but with NBA players. It’s unlikely that this will happen (probably due to some sort of licensing agreement), but it is an interesting idea nonetheless.

4. MyCareer family

RPG fans think that the “MyCareer” mode should feature your wife and children in the stands. Why, exactly, is puzzling, but apparently, this is a real request. This, along with putting in James Harden’s nosebleeds in the game, are among the really bizarre things fans would like to see in NBA 2K20.

A lot of the other discussion all centres around making the simulations more accurate and even tweaking animations here and there to combat the uncanny valley effect. And the devs will probably never be able to include enough features, but the incremental improvements that NBA 2K20 is making should be more than what anyone reasonable should have expected.