Complete Kobe Era

[ServerSavage]

I’ve put together an edit of the Kobe Era roster in NBA 2K25, called "Complete Kobe Era (In-Progress)." It’s called "In-Progress" because I couldn’t figure out how to change the name, but rest assured, the roster is fully finished.

I’ve updated all contracts and player likenesses using info from BasketballReference.com, RealGM.com, and other online sources, so everything should be accurate. I’ve also included a bunch of notable free agents to keep things interesting.

Big thanks to MJWizards for the CAPS of Rasheed Wallace, Anthony Mason, Reggie Miller, and Tayshaun Prince, and a shout-out to Hazy LaCrumb for so many solid CAPS I was able to build from. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to edit the staff. It's tricky to navigate, but I’m happy to make updates if anyone’s interested!

Let me know what you think!

https://youtu.be/gQuXfayqrx4

[aussie_pride]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

I’ve put together an edit of the Kobe Era roster in NBA 2K25, called "Complete Kobe Era (In-Progress)." It’s called "In-Progress" because I couldn’t figure out how to change the name, but rest assured, the roster is fully finished.

I’ve updated all contracts and player likenesses using info from BasketballReference.com, RealGM.com, and other online sources, so everything should be accurate. I’ve also included a bunch of notable free agents to keep things interesting.

Big thanks to MJWizards for the CAPS of Rasheed Wallace, Anthony Mason, Reggie Miller, and Tayshaun Prince, and a shout-out to Hazy LaCrumb for so many solid CAPS I was able to build from. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to edit the staff. It's tricky to navigate, but I’m happy to make updates if anyone’s interested!

Let me know what you think!

https://youtu.be/gQuXfayqrx4

This looks awesome! Thanks for your work! Do you have any plans to do scenarios for different seasons from the Kobe Era?

[8KB24]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Do you have accompanied association settings/mynba settings?


Roster looks great!

[Real2KInsider]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Working on a Kobe 2003 roster myself.

2003 was my first 2K and the season I started publishing 2K ratings

The OVRs and positions are really bad in the default 2K roster. The top players are fine but the mid-tier is a mess (per usual for 2K).

Basketball-Reference is position estimates are just that - estimates (they use Height). Combing player Lineup data is going to be more accurate.

As an example:

SIXERS
94 (NC) Allen Iverson (SG/PG)
82 (+2) Eric Snow (PG)
81 (-1) Keith Van Horn (SF/PF)
78 (NC) Kenny Thomas (PF/C)
78 (NC) Aaron McKie (SG/SF)
77 (-2) Derrick Coleman (C)
75 (NC) Todd MacCulloch (C)
75 (+2) Greg Buckner (SF/SG)
75 (NA) Brian Skinner (C/PF)
74 (+1) Tyrone Hill (PF/C)
74 (+3) Monty Williams (SF/PF)
73 (NA) Samuel Dalembert (C)
72 (NA) John Salmons (SG/SF)
69 (NC) Kenny Satterfield (PG)
69 (NA) Efthimos Rentzias (C)

McKie at SF was a red flag for me because I remembered him being a career SG. BBR has him at SF over Buckner in lineups because he was an inch taller.

If you check their actual lineup data, all of Buckner's lineups come with two other guards (two of Iverson, Snow, McKie), while McKie does have lineups w/ only 1 of Iverson/Snow (and excluding Buckner).

KVH was the starting SF after the first month, they figured out quickly he wasn't going to work at PF on a team that traded Mutombo for him. I liked KVH as a player (esp w/ the Knicks in 04), but his contract was a killer, he was a Max player making the same as Iverson. Tons of brutal contracts like this back in the day.

I didn't recall Snow at the time being 2nd best player good (KVH had the contract/rep) but it was his career offensive season, and he made All-Defense.
McKie had slipped some from his Sixth Man of Year season two years prior, he ended up declining further and amnestied a few years later.
MacCulloch/Monty medically retired after this. Mac I expected to rate a little higher, but his performance also declined due to his foot issue. With NJN the year prior he probably would have been 78-79 range.
Coleman/Hill faded quick due to age.
Most of the long-term players (Skinner, Salmons, Dalembert) are actually CAPs which leaves the roster barren without those guys.

Rentzias only played one year and 144 mins in the NBA but had a 9-year International career. He was a stretch-5 which the CAP doesn't reflect.

Rentzias and Satterfield are examples of players who were essentially 2-Way / Non-NBA caliber players. IMO the existence of those guys doesn't make or break a roster, it's how accurate the top players / rotations are because those are largely the reasons players are going down nostalgia alley.

I guess one more note is the Shooting Tendencies aren't using the Modern Era scale. I haven't seen how this affects the gameplay, but from my data tracking Mid-Range shots were significantly more prevalent, but were almost predominantly catch and shoot.
Iverson for example is the only Sixer with a Mid-Range AST% below 70% (and 49% is still higher than you'd think for a shot creator of his rep - he was actually shooting a lot off screens). Today's mid-range shots are mostly off the dribble rather than C&S, players like Luka/Trae will be around 5 AST%

[aussie_pride]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Working on a Kobe 2003 roster myself.

2003 was my first 2K and the season I started publishing 2K ratings

The OVRs and positions are really bad in the default 2K roster. The top players are fine but the mid-tier is a mess (per usual for 2K).

Basketball-Reference is position estimates are just that - estimates (they use Height). Combing player Lineup data is going to be more accurate.

As an example:

SIXERS
94 (NC) Allen Iverson (SG/PG)
82 (+2) Eric Snow (PG)
81 (-1) Keith Van Horn (SF/PF)
78 (NC) Kenny Thomas (PF/C)
78 (NC) Aaron McKie (SG/SF)
77 (-2) Derrick Coleman (C)
75 (NC) Todd MacCulloch (C)
75 (+2) Greg Buckner (SF/SG)
75 (NA) Brian Skinner (C/PF)
74 (+1) Tyrone Hill (PF/C)
74 (+3) Monty Williams (SF/PF)
73 (NA) Samuel Dalembert (C)
72 (NA) John Salmons (SG/SF)
69 (NC) Kenny Satterfield (PG)
69 (NA) Efthimos Rentzias (C)

McKie at SF was a red flag for me because I remembered him being a career SG. BBR has him at SF over Buckner in lineups because he was an inch taller.

If you check their actual lineup data, all of Buckner's lineups come with two other guards (two of Iverson, Snow, McKie), while McKie does have lineups w/ only 1 of Iverson/Snow (and excluding Buckner).

KVH was the starting SF after the first month, they figured out quickly he wasn't going to work at PF on a team that traded Mutombo for him. I liked KVH as a player (esp w/ the Knicks in 04), but his contract was a killer, he was a Max player making the same as Iverson. Tons of brutal contracts like this back in the day.

I didn't recall Snow at the time being 2nd best player good (KVH had the contract/rep) but it was his career offensive season, and he made All-Defense.
McKie had slipped some from his Sixth Man of Year season two years prior, he ended up declining further and amnestied a few years later.
MacCulloch/Monty medically retired after this. Mac I expected to rate a little higher, but his performance also declined due to his foot issue. With NJN the year prior he probably would have been 78-79 range.
Coleman/Hill faded quick due to age.
Most of the long-term players (Skinner, Salmons, Dalembert) are actually CAPs which leaves the roster barren without those guys.

Rentzias only played one year and 144 mins in the NBA but had a 9-year International career. He was a stretch-5 which the CAP doesn't reflect.

Rentzias and Satterfield are examples of players who were essentially 2-Way / Non-NBA caliber players. IMO the existence of those guys doesn't make or break a roster, it's how accurate the top players / rotations are because those are largely the reasons players are going down nostalgia alley.

I guess one more note is the Shooting Tendencies aren't using the Modern Era scale. I haven't seen how this affects the gameplay, but from my data tracking Mid-Range shots were significantly more prevalent, but were almost predominantly catch and shoot.
Iverson for example is the only Sixer with a Mid-Range AST% below 70% (and 49% is still higher than you'd think for a shot creator of his rep - he was actually shooting a lot off screens). Today's mid-range shots are mostly off the dribble rather than C&S, players like Luka/Trae will be around 5 AST%

Really looking forward to this! Are you doing the 02-03 season or 03-04 season?

[Real2KInsider]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Really looking forward to this! Are you doing the 02-03 season or 03-04 season?

02-03, but with End of Season Rosters, rather than start of season.

It will be a slow trickle though as I collect data on each team here and there.

[ServerSavage]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

This looks awesome! Thanks for your work! Do you have any plans to do scenarios for different seasons from the Kobe Era?

Hi aussie_pride,

I appreciate your kinds words! It was a lot of fun to build out.

I did not have any plans to create scenarios, but I'd definitely consider it if folks are interested.

[ServerSavage]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Do you have accompanied association settings/mynba settings?


Roster looks great!

Thanks, so much! I haven't worked out settings, but I'd be happy to do so if that is something folks are interested in.

[ServerSavage]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Working on a Kobe 2003 roster myself.

2003 was my first 2K and the season I started publishing 2K ratings

The OVRs and positions are really bad in the default 2K roster. The top players are fine but the mid-tier is a mess (per usual for 2K).

Basketball-Reference is position estimates are just that - estimates (they use Height). Combing player Lineup data is going to be more accurate.

As an example:

SIXERS
94 (NC) Allen Iverson (SG/PG)
82 (+2) Eric Snow (PG)
81 (-1) Keith Van Horn (SF/PF)
78 (NC) Kenny Thomas (PF/C)
78 (NC) Aaron McKie (SG/SF)
77 (-2) Derrick Coleman (C)
75 (NC) Todd MacCulloch (C)
75 (+2) Greg Buckner (SF/SG)
75 (NA) Brian Skinner (C/PF)
74 (+1) Tyrone Hill (PF/C)
74 (+3) Monty Williams (SF/PF)
73 (NA) Samuel Dalembert (C)
72 (NA) John Salmons (SG/SF)
69 (NC) Kenny Satterfield (PG)
69 (NA) Efthimos Rentzias (C)

McKie at SF was a red flag for me because I remembered him being a career SG. BBR has him at SF over Buckner in lineups because he was an inch taller.

If you check their actual lineup data, all of Buckner's lineups come with two other guards (two of Iverson, Snow, McKie), while McKie does have lineups w/ only 1 of Iverson/Snow (and excluding Buckner).

KVH was the starting SF after the first month, they figured out quickly he wasn't going to work at PF on a team that traded Mutombo for him. I liked KVH as a player (esp w/ the Knicks in 04), but his contract was a killer, he was a Max player making the same as Iverson. Tons of brutal contracts like this back in the day.

I didn't recall Snow at the time being 2nd best player good (KVH had the contract/rep) but it was his career offensive season, and he made All-Defense.
McKie had slipped some from his Sixth Man of Year season two years prior, he ended up declining further and amnestied a few years later.
MacCulloch/Monty medically retired after this. Mac I expected to rate a little higher, but his performance also declined due to his foot issue. With NJN the year prior he probably would have been 78-79 range.
Coleman/Hill faded quick due to age.
Most of the long-term players (Skinner, Salmons, Dalembert) are actually CAPs which leaves the roster barren without those guys.

Rentzias only played one year and 144 mins in the NBA but had a 9-year International career. He was a stretch-5 which the CAP doesn't reflect.

Rentzias and Satterfield are examples of players who were essentially 2-Way / Non-NBA caliber players. IMO the existence of those guys doesn't make or break a roster, it's how accurate the top players / rotations are because those are largely the reasons players are going down nostalgia alley.

I guess one more note is the Shooting Tendencies aren't using the Modern Era scale. I haven't seen how this affects the gameplay, but from my data tracking Mid-Range shots were significantly more prevalent, but were almost predominantly catch and shoot.
Iverson for example is the only Sixer with a Mid-Range AST% below 70% (and 49% is still higher than you'd think for a shot creator of his rep - he was actually shooting a lot off screens). Today's mid-range shots are mostly off the dribble rather than C&S, players like Luka/Trae will be around 5 AST%

Thanks for all the hard work and detail you put into this reply! I've been playing 2K since around 2K10 after switching over from NBA Live, and maybe some of those arcade-y tendencies are dying hard LOL. I really appreciate the time you took to make such thoughtful notes.

These are great points! I left the players I did not add, as is. I'm also planning to refine my rosters since I noticed some inconsistencies too. You’re on the money about the mid-tier players being off. Definitely a common issue with 2K. Not to mention the inflated ratings of the last ten years or so! Your explanation of the Sixers lineup really helped, especially with McKie at SF. I agree, lineup data is way more accurate than just looking at heights.

Even though there are some players included who didn’t have long NBA careers, I wanted to stick with the actual rosters and positions as of the start of the season to reflect things accurately as I could. I am hoping to be fine-tuning things, and your insights will definitely help. Thanks again for putting all this together!

[aussie_pride]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Hi aussie_pride,

I appreciate your kinds words! It was a lot of fun to build out.

I did not have any plans to create scenarios, but I'd definitely consider it if folks are interested.

Building rosters always takes alot of work so you definitely deserve the recognition for your awesome work!

With scenarios, I think a lot of people who had 2K23 and 2K24 may be interested in a different Kobe Era season as they could have played 02-03 in those games.

[Real2KInsider]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Shooting Data from the Real 2K Roster Spreadsheets....

We can see the EXTREME difference in eras here.

Kobe Era
- Low difficulty jump shots
-Close shot is extremely inefficient (Many Sixers sub 40%) - No spacing
-Layup FG% is crazy low (No spacing) - Check how often Iverson gets to rim compared to Maxey
-Majority of players take mid-range shots (2.1 / 36 team average)

Modern Era
-Higher difficulty jump shots (higher volume / lower Assist rate)
-Close shot is more efficient (10 players > 40%) - Spread floor = clearer driving lanes
-Compare how often Maxey gets to rim compared to Iverson
-Modern Sixers a bit of a mid-range abnormality relative to the rest of the league (Embiid #1 in Tendency, George 7th)

FGA/36 isn't Pace adjusted so it's imperfect.
97.5 Pace (18th) for 2024 Sixers
91.4 Pace (13th) for 2023 Sixers

6 possession difference is essentially +2 FGA for Modern Iverson.

[ServerSavage]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Building rosters always takes alot of work so you definitely deserve the recognition for your awesome work!

With scenarios, I think a lot of people who had 2K23 and 2K24 may be interested in a different Kobe Era season as they could have played 02-03 in those games.

Thanks, I appreciate that! The work definitely adds up, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s strange, but I find it really relaxing after a high-stress day, and working on these rosters helps me unwind. Thanks for the advice about the scenarios too. The different options and opinions are what makes this place so interesting. More variety could be a lot of fun, like starting from '04 or '05.

[aussie_pride]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Thanks, I appreciate that! The work definitely adds up, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s strange, but I find it really relaxing after a high-stress day, and working on these rosters helps me unwind. Thanks for the advice about the scenarios too. The different options and opinions are what makes this place so interesting. More variety could be a lot of fun, like starting from '04 or '05.

Happy to help in any way I can. 🙂 I know illuke55 is doing an 04-05 season scenario, so if you would like, I'd be happy to work with you and do 03-04 or any other season you want?

[Cyrus09]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Few things I realized when simulating through a few seasons:
- scoring seems a bit high. I had more then 5 guys averaging over 30 points in 11 minute quarters, up to 36 points per game. Usually it's guys you could see scoring much(Kobe, AI, Dirk, McGrady) but in general all of them doing it regularly seems a bit much. One of the bigger outliers seems to be Jason Kidd, who scores around 25 per game usually.
- rebounds are very high as well. Ben Wallace always ends up around 17 and there are a ton of players around 15. I would recommend taking away the rebounding badges for all PFs and Cs. Then you end up around 15 tops.
- Threes seem to be a big high as well. Especially the volume scorers like TMac and Kobe are shooting way above 40%, which should explain the rise in scoring in general.

What I love is how good some of the created players look and that you added guys like Scola to the FA market, that's the best I saw so far in the rosters I tried.

[Real2KInsider]

Re: Complete Kobe Era

Few things I realized when simulating through a few seasons:
- scoring seems a bit high. I had more then 5 guys averaging over 30 points in 11 minute quarters, up to 36 points per game. Usually it's guys you could see scoring much(Kobe, AI, Dirk, McGrady) but in general all of them doing it regularly seems a bit much. One of the bigger outliers seems to be Jason Kidd, who scores around 25 per game usually.
- rebounds are very high as well. Ben Wallace always ends up around 17 and there are a ton of players around 15. I would recommend taking away the rebounding badges for all PFs and Cs. Then you end up around 15 tops.
- Threes seem to be a big high as well. Especially the volume scorers like TMac and Kobe are shooting way above 40%, which should explain the rise in scoring in general.

What I love is how good some of the created players look and that you added guys like Scola to the FA market, that's the best I saw so far in the rosters I tried.

I am going to assume Shot ratings are too high for the stars. This was a defensive era but the defensive ratings are fairly passive for players.

Sounds like Pace is too high for all the teams too if there's that many rebounds. What were the teams averaging?