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A WNBA Wishlist for NBA 2K21 & Beyond

The current state of the world has created newfound time for many of us while we wait for sports to resume and, much more importantly, life to return to some semblance of normal.

To pass the time, and to follow the recent buzz created by the 2020 WNBA Draft, I have taken a deep dive into NBA 2K20’s WNBA integration and created a wishlist of features for the next iterations of the game. The first year of WNBA in 2K surpassed EA Sports’ two-year head start with NBA Live 18 and Live 19 on a number of fronts; that said, for 2K to bring the integration up to the standard W fans deserve and their industry-leading NBA simulation has created, I’ve logged these 20 things need to be added as soon as possible:

Fix the In-Game Commentary Audio One of the most glaring issues for 2K20 with the WNBA were the multiple instances of the in-game announcers misgendering player actions (using “he/him/his” instead of “she/her/hers”). I haven’t heard any actions in NBA modes using female wording so hearing it in the W games makes the mode feel a bit unprofessional. There are some times where these mentions could just be unclear pronunciations, but even that happening in a game where there is usually so much polish on the commentary is a problem. I’ve had fellow gamers on Twitter confirm that this has happened to them so it’s definitely not an isolated incident.

Choose more recognizable and more diverse announcers The all-male trio of announcers in the WNBA modes did an admirable job providing commentary in the games. While I generally enjoyed their commentary (sans point No.1) and it seemed to get better after launch, sometimes their insights into players were a bit formulaic (a descriptor, player name, another descriptor). Initially, hearing these anecdotes about the players was refreshing but noticing this recurring template was disheartening after a while. Also, in a game that has a wide mix of recognizable, veteran NBA announcers on the men’s side and sports the great Doris Burke among that mix, it was hard to understand how the WNBA mode only possessed an all-male crew unknown in WNBA circles.

A list of seasoned WNBA/women’s basketball announcers that should be approached for 2K21 and beyond include but are not limited to: LaChina Robinson, Kara Lawson, Rebecca Lobo, Adam Amin, Ryan Ruocco, Christy Winters-Scott, Carolyn Peck, Doris Burke, Holly Rowe (who could also serve in David Aldrige’s sideline role), Cheryl Miller, Debbie Antonelli, Pam Ward, Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, Maria Taylor, and Ann Meyers.

Add the pre-game/post-game shows If any of the veteran announcers could be added to 2K21, it would make perfect sense to create a pre-game/post-game panel package for the W. Any grouping of those announcers could easily create analysis for the teams and give the women the same treatment that Shaq, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson give the men.

Extend the season mode past one season Being able to play a full season in 2K20 was one of the game’s best features. However, knowing that you couldn’t go into multiple years like in NBA MyLeague was disappointing. Knowing this, I still grinded through a season with the Las Vegas Aces from launch until a few weeks ago (for the record: 27-7, Liz Cambage as MVP and Finals MVP, and a title!) only to be left with the empty feeling of not being able to have my curated team (with a few late season trades) run it back in future years. Maybe the full 80-year NBA MyLeague treatment can’t be done, but having the auto draft classes, progressions, and offseason items necessary for a 15-25 year run should be doable.

Allow for creation of female players, custom rosters and draft classes As more and more attention is given to women’s basketball in this social media age, devoted fans may want to create draft classes of future college stars like NBA fans already do. Adding the option to create female players - individually or en masse - is necessary to allow for longer engagement with the league in the game. Outside of visualizing future players, being able to save and load custom rosters is also needed. This year’s one-season MyLeague would have been more bearable if I didn’t have to manually alter any fantasy rosters I wanted to experiment with every time I started a season.

Add a MyCareer storyline/path for Female MyPlayers to make the league In past editions of 2K and past versions of the Madden NFL franchise, game creators have worked around the NCAA’s old name, image and likeness restrictions by getting basic licenses from colleges to use their logos with generic rosters in MyCareer-type modes. Madden NFL 20’s Face of the Franchise mode particularly stood out: your QB chose a college to go to, and then as a senior played against two schools in the College Football Playoff semis and final.

A similar setup could be created for a Female MyCareer story: get a team license for 4-8 of the top women’s college basketball teams and have the created player go through the latter stages of the NCAA tourney before getting drafted to the W. Someone could create a player, choose from the licensed schools to commit, play a handful of games versus the other licensed schools (and their auto-generated rosters) in big moments over four years, and end by going through top teams as a senior (either with or without graduated alums in the W; imagine having to face Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally, Ruthy Hebard and Oregon or Tyasha Harris, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, Dawn Staley and South Carolina for the title to set your draft stock). Simulate the draft with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert like it’s done with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, and roll right into your season with the same bells and whistles as a male MyPlayer.

Allow Female MyPlayer into the Neighborhood/Park areas I personally don’t play too much of the online Park games in 2K (another story for another day) but just like on basketball courts around the world, if female MyPlayers are available, they should be able to run with the guys. The Neighborhood could be broken up three ways: a portion for guys only runs, a section for girls only runs, and a co-ed section. Give the female MyPlayers the same access to all the perks of the Neighborhood (gear, the Gatorade training center, MyCourt, etc).

Allow for Playoff Only Mode The WNBA Playoffs are probably the most unique in all of the major sports leagues. Adding a Playoff only mode to the season mode would allow for more content to be created and simulations to be run, especially if All-Time and Classic teams are added.

Continue to improve on strong face scan data 2K’s face scans were great out the gate in both quality and quantity. Continuing to improve on that start to gain 100 percent accuracy has to be the goal. Scanning sessions will probably be difficult in the current age of coronavirus, but if fans can scan their faces in the game with an app, I’m sure something can be done with the W’s players remotely.

Scan in and/or properly gender each head coach We heard that some WNBA coaches - if not all - were scanned for 2K20 but none of them are in the game. If correcting this can’t be done in 2K21, at least put in generic stand ins of the correct gender and race. Example: Minnesota (Cheryl Reeve - white woman) and Las Vegas (Bill Laimbeer - white man) both have black male avatars as their head coaches in the game. All 12 coach avatars in the game are men and even though there are more male coaches than female ones in the league, the virtual stand-ins are still incorrect. If the game could get unique scans for cheerleaders and female characters in MyCareer, I’m sure some stand in men and women could be added if the WNBA coaches can’t be added like their NBA counterparts.

Align commentator and arena PA announcer pronunciations A subtle tweak: making sure the game announcers and the in-arena PAs are announcing players’ names correctly. I’ve heard some very off names on both sides

Halftime: show team stats screen for longer than four seconds When I’m in a game and want to look at the halftime stats to figure out how I’m doing, I’ve felt rushed because the team stats graphic that shows in-between halves comes down just as quickly as it goes up.

Allow for online Play Now The NBA and 2K found a way to entertain its fans during our quarantine with online competitions that were aired on TV. If the WNBA season is postponed or cancelled, the league cannot facilitate a similar tournament in 2K20 because the only way for two people to faceoff with W teams is in the offline Play Now mode. Bringing in an online option will expand opportunities for fans to learn about the WNBA players and teams.

The defending champion Washington Mystics recently decided to do streams of their games on 2K but only as CPU vs CPU simulations instead of remote player vs player. Not having the ability to play someone else online limited their options and engagement opportunities. 

WNBA Finals: actually put in a celebration sequence As I (proudly) mentioned, I won the title in my LVA season and after the final game, there was a quick CHAMPIONS graphic...and that’s it. No trophy celebrations, no locker room celebrations, nothing. In my semifinals win to get to the Finals, the NBA “conference trophy” cutscenes played postgame at least. Adding that touch would surely be appreciated by the W community.

Double check player cutouts Jordin Canada (SEA) won an award in my LVA season and her player image was Jewell Loyd. It’s the only error I’ve personally seen on the player cutouts but checking those are important.

All-Time Teams and Past Champions Adding Classic WNBA teams and/or legends via All-Time teams would be the ultimate way to honor the league’s history and give old and new fans that pick up 2K a virtual time capsule of the W. My suggestions would be to add:

Champions and Runners-Up from every year (1997-present)

All-Time Teams that go 10-12 deep (I took a crack at suggestions here): https://bit.ly/2xFW2HL. I’m sure some W writers with deeper knowledge than mine could fill in the blanks.

Add a 2K League connection/element Tying back into the online Play Now mode, incorporating the NBA 2K League with WNBA action would be amazing. Either have the 2KL teams do special tourneys using W teams; create events or a full league for the W that has to be at minimum 75% women (because, shoot, I’d want to play too!); or do WNBA player-specific events. Imagine how cool it would be to see Aerial Powers and Allisha Gray going at it as themselves in 2K instead of just picking NBA teams.

Put in some general trade logic Currently, any trades in the MyLeague mode are set to automatically go through, no matter how outrageous. Some basic trade logic (at minimum based on overalls, salary and position) would be nice to give things a realistic feel.

Fix the jerseys screen in season In WNBA Play Now, when you go to adjust jerseys, there’s a graphic with WNBA players in the background. In Season, that graphic is of NBA players.

Honor Gigi Bryant, Payton Chester, and Alyssa Altobelli, and Kobe Bryant Follow Commissioner Engelbert’s lead and find a way to honor Gigi and her Mamba Academy teammates. Maybe permission can be granted to create older versions of the girls to be placed into the game’s free agent pool.

At minimum, having some kind of graphic commemoration would be classy (maybe banners throughout the game or at Staples for Sparks games, since they were California natives). There’s also been the obvious rumblings of putting Kobe and Gigi on the cover. That would be amazing. If that can’t be done, a cover with Kobe and a WNBA player he was close to (Ionescu, Diana Taurasi, Loyd) would be fitting.

I do not want this list to diminish what 2K has excelled at with its first run with the WNBA. The gameplay is fun and true to form, the graphics are high quality, a very large amount of the face scans are on point, being able to play a full season is an excellent touch, and the features that are in the game are strong. However, 2K as a whole has a decades-long reputation for putting out a pace-setting game every year so wanting the WNBA’s section of it to be fully developed is something every true basketball fan can agree on.

I can’t wait to see which of these suggestions or others are implemented. What features would you want added for the WNBA?

#wnba #nba #nba2k #nba2k20 #women's basketball #video games #xbox #playstation #basketball

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WNBA Addition in NBA LIVE 18 Is All About Inclusion

ALSO ON MEL GREENBERG’S WOMHOOPS GURU BLOG: http://bit.ly/2xEX025

In August, a hashtag inspired by the Twitter account @blackgirlnerds asked users to remember when the #FirstTimeISawMe in media was.

Some of the best answers focused on impactful representation in TV, movies, and music. 

For fans of the WNBA and women’s basketball as a whole, the answer to that question in regards to video games will be fully realized on September 15, 2017.

That date marks the release of EA Sports’ NBA LIVE 18 and the historic addition of the complete WNBA roster for the first time ever in a basketball game. According to EA’s initial release, the WNBA will be available in the game’s “WNBA Play Now” mode and “teams and player skills have been specifically balanced to reflect the unique playstyle of the league and skills of its players”

The league that charges its supporters to “Watch Me Work” in arenas, on television screens, and within mobile apps will now be able to extend that rallying call to next generation gaming consoles.

“We are delighted to collaborate and make history with EA as NBA LIVE 18 becomes the first video game to feature the WNBA’s full roster of teams and players. With EA’s expertise and ingenuity, the game will provide a terrific platform to showcase the players and the league, enabling fans to experience the WNBA in a new, exciting way,” WNBA President Lisa Borders said when the announcement was made last month.

The distinction of adding the FULL complement of WNBA players and teams is important.

EA has worked with the league in the past, adding six WNBA legends - Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, and Diana Taurasi - to their successful streetball simulation NBA Street: Homecourt back in 2007. EA has also had some practice with higher levels of inclusion since Homecourt’s release, adding several women’s national soccer teams to its FIFA soccer series since the release of FIFA 16 in the Fall of 2015.

Ten years later, the evolution of EA and the WNBA’s partnership is providing another milestone moment for the world’s longest running women’s professional sports league. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity for our league. We’re always looking for ways to improve and to get better so I think this is a huge step, a big step for us,” said the recently retired Catchings.

Within the women's basketball community, the possibility of NBA LIVE’s WNBA integration has been a point for discussion of about a year. Two August 2016 Twitter posts from former University of Washington players Talia Walton and Kelsey Plum - the eventual first pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft - started the conversation. 

The pair tweeted a photo of themselves in motion capture gear and gave a shout out to EA. At that point, the thought of seeing virtual WNBA players wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“It was a great opportunity,” Plum said as she recalled the process. “It turned out to be a super fun experience. You get to see behind the scenes and learn a lot about how they make the game. I was very humbled to be a part of it.”

As amazing as the experience was for Plum and Walton, fans that saw the post could only guess what the ultimate significance of the photo would be as there would be no official follow up or outside lead for months that would help confirm the league’s involvement in the game.

That all changed in April after Steve Noah (@Steve_OS), owner of sports video game news site Operation Sports, tweeted a leaked screenshot of an NBA LIVE menu with a WNBA logo on it.

The two images, considered together, gave a bit more credibility to the notion. When it was made official four months later, a year’s worth of speculation turned into tangible buzz. 

The most common feeling among players when asked about their inclusion in the game: excitement. 

“I’m excited, too excited. I don’t have a gaming system so I’m actually going out to buy a PS4,” Washington Mystics guard Ivory Latta said. “I’m going to be in the house all day playing. I hope I score like 60 a game.”

Dallas Wings guard Aerial Powers may have a different console than Latta, but her enthusiasm to play the game is just as high. “I love video games! I have an Xbox One so I play games all the time. I play basketball games and ‘Call of Duty’ so when I saw that we were going to be on NBA LIVE I was so excited. Growing up, I played the games as other players, players I might have known that made the NBA. Now I can play myself and be myself in the video game? It’s so exciting.”

The gratitude for equal representation was as evident in responses as fans’ overall interest in playing the game. The majority of sports games over the years have only allowed gamers to compete with male players - New York Liberty guard Epiphanny Prince would create a male player named “Kobe Prince” to “add her own touch.”

In terms of representation, to go from improvisation to actualization has only added to the excitement of the league’s participation in the game.

“It’s pretty surreal,” Phoenix Mercury guard Danielle Robinson said of the thought of playing as herself in the game. “[Going from] playing video games with my brother when I was younger to now being able to play as myself is pretty incredible.”

Getting the best women’s basketball players in the world into the digital realm is, in the words of Prince, a “blessing and a dream come true.” It is also only one part that dream. Realizing the second part will mean keeping them there in future iterations through the commercial success of the game and the continued growth and visibility of the league. 

The ideal result of this partnership would be reciprocal in nature: the women’s basketball community comes out in force to bring new fans to the video game industry and the WNBA adds a new way of gaining fans out of casual gamers.

Indiana Fever head coach Pokey Chatman believes the league won’t have an issue doing so if interested gamers experience a game - either virtually or, hopefully, in person after playing NBA LIVE. 

“I think it’s an opportunity for a totally different demographic to get eyes on players that may pique their interest and then get to a game,” Chatman said. “My motto is, ‘if we get them to a WNBA basketball game, we’ll wrap our arms around them and they’ll thoroughly enjoy it’ because they have an appreciation the athleticism and style of play that these young ladies have.”

On August 3, a couple days after the #FirstTimeISawMe hashtag was introduced by BGN and the same day EA confirmed the WNBA’s involvement, Mystics analyst Christy Winters Scott tweeted that she “could never give” her three kids - two boys and a girl - a good answer as to why the WNBA hadn’t had a presence in video games.

In a few weeks, her kids - and anyone else that supports the league - won’t have to ever ask that question again. 

They can just ask, “who’s got next?”

#WNBA #ea sports #video games #basketball #WBB

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Photos from Minnesota Lynx vs Washington Mystics preseason game - May 27, 2015 

#MysticsLynx #WNBA #Mystics #Lynx #Washington #DC #Minnesota #Basketball #WBB

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Mystics Show Early Signs Of Promise In Win Over Lynx

ALSO ON MEL GREENBERG’S WOMHOOPS GURU BLOG: http://bit.ly/1Azn79W

WASHINGTON, DC (May 27) --- The early buzz out of the District of Columbia is that the Washington Mystics may be building something special – even if the 2015 campaign is only two preseason games old.

Second year guard Tayler Hill scored a game-high 18 points off the bench and the Mystics defeated the Minnesota Lynx 89-63 on Wednesday morning in the team's impressive preseason home opener.

Hill, who missed most of the 2014 season after the birth of her first child, didn’t show any rust when it came to her shot – the Ohio State product went 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the field and over 57 percent from three (4-of-7) against Minnesota.

When asked about the faith she displayed in her shot, Hill cited the work she’s put in to get back to this point.

“The more you practice it, the more confident you get so I’ve gotten to be pretty confident in where I am with my shot, but I know it doesn’t stop here,” said Hill.

Hill also added three rebounds, two steals and a block and has posted averages of 13.5 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals per game in Washington’s two exhibition contests.

In addition to Hill, center Emma Meesseman (11 points) and guards Kara Lawson (11), Bria Hartley (10) and Natasha Cloud (10) each scored in double figures.

“We had five in double figures and we had two more close,” Coach Mike Thibault said. “It shows that we’re moving the basketball and it shows we’re unselfish.”

One of those top scorers – Cloud – is another reason the Mystic faithful are excited about what the year could bring.

The 6-0 rookie from Saint Joseph’s got her first WNBA start in today’s game, shooting 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line. From the opening tip, Cloud, looked very much at ease with the speed of the game while always seeming to make the right play at the right time.

“It was a good feeling being out there today,” Cloud said. “It’s all still kind of surreal [playing at this level] but this team has made me extremely comfortable. I’m very comfortable in the offenses that we’re running and I’m able to just go out and play basketball.”

Added Thibault, “Cloud’s going to be really special. I think she could be one of the best rookies that comes into the league this year, if not the best.”

Even Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was impressed with the Mystics’ early returns on their effort.

“Washington is really, really committed to what they’re doing. It’s not complicated what they do, they just do it really well and they’re really committed to it,” Reeve said of Washington’s execution.

Washington held a one-point edge at halftime (43-42) after both teams exchanged 25-point quarters but a 29-10 third period gave the Mystics a sizable cushion.

A deeper examination of the box score showed all but one Mystics player scoring at least one basket and the home team winning several key categories, including every shooting category, assists, steals and blocks.

Looking at the bigger picture, Washington’s play has the team feeling good about the direction it’s heading in as the season opener approaches.

“I think this team can go as far as it wants to go,” said Hill. “We control our own destiny. We’ve got a really good team, a really deep team. We can go one through 12 and everyone plays their position well so I think we can go far.”

NEXT UP: The Mystics will hit the road on Friday (May 29) for their preseason finale against the Indiana Fever before opening the 2015 regular season on the road against the Connecticut Sun on Friday, June 5 and at home against the New York Liberty on Saturday, June 6.