Here are some tips and tricks you need to know if you want to be a better NBA 2K22 player. Though it’s relatively beginner-friendly, some of these tips will explain the newly introduced features, which will be useful information for you even if you are a veteran NBA player.
1. The W Is More Fun
The W is the perfect place to start a career mode in NBA 2K22 because there’s no pressure to spend real cash, you don’t have to wander around a bloated city, you don’t have to know how you want to distribute individual stat points, and there are much fewer barriers between creating a character and actually playing basketball. If you do decide you want to play in the men’s side of the NBA afterward, you’ll have a handle on the shot meter and a better idea of what kind of player you want to be before dropping that precious VC and committing to the grind.
2. True Colours
Whether you’re color blind or are just having an unexpected amount of difficulty mastering the shot meter, try changing the shot meter color. You can do this by going to Settings > Shot Meter Color and playing around to see what works for you. If you’re still having trouble after that, you might need to brush up on your rhythm skills, but eventually, it’ll become muscle memory.
3. Dribbling And Defending
The right stick is the most important offensive tool for dribble moves and shooting. Meantime, it’s also key for defense. When defending a dribbler, hold down the left trigger and keep the right stick pushed up. You’ll need to be close to your opponent to make it work, but you should really notice the difference.
4. Memorise the new offensive animations
On offense, you’ve got new signature moves from the league’s elite to break ankles with and new dribble combos. This means all that muscle memory waggling the right stick around needs updating immediately.
Dunking in traffic, alley-oops, and jump-shots have all had a revamp and are more skill-based. That’s most obvious when it comes to dunking.
5. Revamped defensive controls
This year, you’re mastering the control modifiers anew because the defensive animation vault has been updated, and shot contest and block controls are reworked. It’s still about timing, frame-reading, and concentration, but the player movements are closer to reality, and the litheness of the athletes is better conveyed with the pad.
6. How Did The Team Takeovers Work?
Team Takeovers are important, and you can unlock them by playing well and having good team chemistry. You’ll know when it’s maxed out because it’s as subtle as a firework: The meter will be flaming, and it’ll flash “Team Takeover” just in case you missed the flames. Press down on the right stick and watch your team catch fire.
7. Slow And Steady Makes The Bucket
The secret to accurate shooting is slowing down in 2K22. The stamina bar affects your shooting bar, so don’t sprint as much if you want to make difficult shots.
8. The Best MyPlayer Builds
Just remember that the best build is the one you like the most. Unless you want to take your NBA 2K22 skills pro, this game is supposed to be fun, so try out as many builds as you want until you find the one you want to stick with.
If you’re unsure what position works best for you, it’s best to practice in The W if you’ve got a new-gen console. They don’t cost VC, you can’t tinker with individual stats, and you can choose from pre-fabricated archetypes to see what you do and don’t like and then build a player based on that.
9. College, G-League, or straight to the NBA?
If you want to get the most bang for your buck, it’s best to go to college, play through the G-League, and head to the NBA. This does mean spending a fair amount of time playing in leagues that aren’t the ones named on the box, but you’ll earn much more VC during your eventual career.
10. Badges
Badges are critical for your player’s success, so it’s important to know which ones you should be saving for.
1). Shooting badges
Deadeye is going to be key in cutting down the effectiveness of the defense while shooting.
Green Machine is impactful if you have good shot timing and consistently hit green on your shot meter.
Sniper is key if your shot meter timing is a bit off because it’ll help you hit more slightly early and slightly late shots.
2). Finishing badges
You’ll need Fearless Finisher to help your player finish through contact.
Lob City Finisher will help you complete ally-oops, which both look cool and are super useful.
3). Playmaking badges
Handles for Days and Quick Chain are important to have together if you’re planning on using a lot of dribble moves.
Unpluckable is key if you don’t want your pocket constantly picked.
As the name implies, Quick First Step-ups your launch speed just a bit, which will help against the aforementioned strong defenders.
4). Defensive badges
Rim Protector makes blocks even more effective, which is insane given how overpowered they already are.
Pick Pocket will help you steal and strip more often.
11. Grind Your Player First
You have to make sure that you grind your My Career players first. Otherwise, you will lose a lot of the earlier matches.
12. Spin the Wheel Daily
You have to spin the wheel in your safe space daily because you never know when you’ll hit the jackpot and get decent rewards. Just make a habit of doing it daily.
13. Don’t change Jump Shots
Many players change their jump shots every season, and in doing so, they become less consistent scorers. You should avoid frequently changing your jumps.
14. Locker Codes
If you’re playing MyTeam, Locker Codes are your way to get extra stuff for free, like NBA2K22 MT, VC, Tokens, and Packs, which is always nice. Locker Codes are often posted on the NBA 2K socials, or you can find them handily collated at lockercodes.io, which is worth keeping bookmarked.
15. Practice the Dribble
In NBA 2K22, Dribbling requires a lot of practice, and you have to pick your favorite dribbler and hit 2K U to practice your chain shots and overall flow of your dribble.
This NBA 2K22 guide is currently a work in progress, so feel free to visit here and check back regularly for more updates and helpful content. Also, if you have some other NBA 2K22 tips and tricks, let us know in the comments section!
