NBA 2K23 overhauls its franchise mode by sending everyone back in time

polygon.com:

The Jordan Challenge anchored NBA 2K11, a sports title honestly given overall game-of-the-year consideration at the time. The mode returns for NBA 2K23, but last week’s reveal also invited an elephant into fans’ living rooms: What about “NBA’s Greatest”?

NBA’s Greatest was the historical mode for NBA 2K12, likewise appearing only in that game. For many fans, it was an even richer experience than 2010’s Michael Jordan tribute. Following a media presentation on Monday, now we know that Visual Concepts did not forget about them.

The key elements of NBA’s Greatest have been folded into the MyNBA franchise mode, now called MyNBA Eras, in NBA 2K23. In it, players may journey back to three distinct periods of league history, with the opportunity to rewrite it while leading a period-authentic club over a multiyear stretch. (They may also start from the current NBA season, the same as all franchise modes before.)

“We’ve put in a feature set that we have been talking about for my entire duration” at developer Visual Concepts, said executive producer Erick Boenisch, a 20-year veteran of the NBA 2K series, and the lead designer of its franchise mode for 15 years. “This year, we’re asking our fans the question, ‘What if you could go back in time and change the course of NBA history?’”

In addition to the present day, there are now three different historical starting points available for MyNBA Eras: 1983, 1991, and 2002. Players could, for example, take over the Portland Trail Blazers and, ahead of the 1984 season, draft Michael Jordan with the No. 2 pick instead of Sam Bowie. In real life, that fateful selection would come back to haunt the Blazers in 1992, with Bowie long gone from the team and Jordan’s Chicago Bulls stopping