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Every Classic Team Ranked by Talent
*** LONG POST WARNING ***
Been wanting to do this for a while, but here's my take on how good these classic teams are in the game (as someone who has played with them ALL at some point):
1. 96 Bulls - EASILY the best defensive classic teams in the game, bar none. Swap in Kukoc for Longley & you have a nice 4 out 1 in spacing with Rodman at C. Everyone easily able to shoot the 3 besides Rodman.
2. 16 Cavs - While Kyrie & J.R are defensive liabilities, the spacing this team has more than makes up for it. Thompson & Love being rebounding gods is something that's easily overlooked as well.
3. 17 Warriors - Only reason they aren't #1 is due to no Iguodala. Easily would be subbed for Zaza, but I digress.
4. 14 Spurs - Just an absolute solid 3 & D team from top to bottom. Kawhi & Green & Duncan are more than enough to slow down any top 3 opposing scoring threats
5. 13 Heat - I couldn't rank them any higher due to their lack of rim presence. Bosh being a soft rim protector keeps them out from otherwise being in the top 3.
6. 04 Lakers - Another Solid defensive team, but the court spacing is what holds this team from being top 5.
7. 98 Bulls - Basically a watered down version of the 96 Bulla. Langley is slightly better, so using him as a bench scoring option while the starters are resting is slightly viable.
8. 16 Warriors - Sub out Durant for Harrison Barnes & Bogut. But Bogut actually provides great rebounding & rim protection, just not nearly as important as a player as KD though.
9. 19 Raptors - This team would be a couple spots higher if I aka was in the game.Very similar to the 14 Spurs, just a great 3 & D team.
10. 08 Celtics - Sub out Perkins for Tony Allen & you've got one of the best balanced teams in the game. Since 3pt timing is 10X more important than attributes, Tony Allens 3s aren't as bad as you might think.
11. 05 Spurs - While the big 3 are better here than the 14 team, Bowen is great but no Kawhi. Also, nobody comparable to Danny Green either.
12. 02 Kings - Very balanced all around team, just as they were irl. No real weakness here, but I would swap Hedo for Divac if you're wanting quickness & spacing.
13. 87 Lakers - Magic & Kareem is lethal, yes, but Coopers 3 & D & Worthy on thr fastbreak is extremely underrated. Byron Scott is the only real liability, as he suffers from terrible animations (as do most classic role players).
14. 98 Lakers - This team is scary good, 2k would have you believe that they really destroyed the 98 Lakers in the WCF. Kobe plays above his 83 rating. The only issue with this team is Shaqs abysmal stamina. You can't keep him in without getting tired 2 minutes into the game.
15. 08 Rockets - T-Mac & Yao play well above their ratings. Yao rebounding everything in sight. Battery is easily the next most valuable player, great 3 & D. Thr team does suffer from slightly lack of spacing, but they're still manageable.
16. 01 Lakers - While the rest of the team around Shaq & Kobe isn't all that, those 2 are so dominant that you barely notice the team flaws. Somehow, Shaq has 98 stamina compared to 70 on his 1998 version.
17. 93 Bulls - You get the 2nd best versions of MJ & Scottie, & Horace Grant makes a nice option at C as well with his defense & rebounding, just make sure to Sub out Cartwright for BJ armstrong (who is a massive defensive liability, but Cartwright is terrible at everything).
18. 11 Mavs - This team requires some thinking. You can't just drive & kick like modern NBA, but once you figure it out, they're a nice balanced team to play with. Kidd & Stevenson & Chandler provide solid enough defense to make Terry & Dirks offense mean something. Marion is also a solid role player.
19. 08 Nuggets - I felt like I wanted to place this team higher, but their defense just isn't all that amazing. Just gotta funnel everything inside to Camby I guess. Kenyon Martin is a beast on the glass though. Melo mismatch in the post against other smaller guards is where it's at though.
20. 12 Knicks - Almost a carbon copy of the 08 Nuggets, but Melo isn't quite as good & Lin is no A.I.
21. 07 Warriors - This team does a real good job of replicating how the IRL 07 warriors felt. Quick, fast, energetic, & explosive. Their defense leaves a lot to be desired, but they're not a bad team.
22. 11 Bulls - Here's one of the first disappointing ones so far. I really want them to be better, but their lack of spacing is a killer. Boozer just isn't a very good 2k player & can't combining him with Noah means Rose has no room to operate. Deng is easily the 2nd best player on the team, everyone else is either a liability in spacing or defense.
23. 12 Thunder - This is a top 12 team bare minimum if Serge Ibaka was in the game. Nonetheless, Russ, KD, & Harden are still a great trio to use. There's just not anything to be amazed at for their front court.
24. 07 Wizards - They're a decently great offensive team to use, & Arenas is a pain to guard, but there's just too many mis matches to hunt on this team to put them any higher.
25. 06 Heat - Wade's animations really save this team from being 15 spots lower. While Shaq is still a great defensive player, he's not quite Lakers Shaq & the rest of this team is terrible offensively. Payton & Haslem do have nice defensive animations though.
26. 97 Heat - EASILY the best tier 3 team in the game. Zo, Brown, & Majerle are royal pains to try & score on, while Hardaway & Mashburn are solid offensive options.
27. 91 Bulls - Carbon copy of the 93 Bulls, just not as good.
28. 07 Cavs - So this team isn't as bad as people made them out to be irl. Big Z is a great C that can space & defend & rebound. Golden has a decent 3 ball as well, and Larry Hughes isn't half bad either
29. 98 Spurs - This has to be the most difficult team in the game to get open layups on, for obvious reasons. Avery Johnson is the only massive liability offensively & Vinny just outright can't play defense. But still probably the 2nd or 3rd best tier 3 team.
30. 86 Celtics - This team should be MUCH better than where they rank. The way 2k likes to contest paint shots out of post play really hurts McHale & Parish, & they made Bird way too slow in this game. This team cannot guard 5 out with shooters at ALL with how slow this team is.
31. 95 Magic - Swap Royal for Dennis Scott, & you have a decent team. Problem is, this is suppose to be prime athletic Shaq, & his stamina sucks & is worse than his 04 version. This team isn't any higher because their perimeter defense is pretty terrible.
32. 99 Knicks - Never really gave this team a chance until this year, & I've been pleasantly surprised at how solid & balanced they are for a tier 3. They aren't great at much, but aren't bad at much either. Camby off the bench to relieve Ewing is huge too.
33. 10 Blazers - Probably the best spacing of any team in tier 3. Andre Miller is a space killer, but everyone else is solid.
34. 05 Suns - This is the first tier 1 team that has 0 business in tier 1. This team & their animations just make them feel very weak in comparison to other tier 1s. Shawn Marion is easily the best all around player in the entire team, as Nash & Stoudemire (while good offensively), are TERRIBLE defensively, as are Joe Johnson & Q Rich.
35. 71 Bucks - Kareem is the best C in the game & it's not close. What hurts this team are the players in between him & Oscar. While not terrible, they're not exactly great either.
36. 71 Lakers - Very similar to the 71 Bucks, and probably better court spacing, but Wilt is no Kareem, & West is no Oscar on offense. West does get plenty of great steal animations, but otherwise disappointing for a 95 ovr pg.
37. 04 Wolves - KG obviously carries this team on both ends, but you're gonna want to Sub in Wally & Hoiberg for spacing & put KG at C.
38. 89 Pistons - Another team that feels that they should be ranked way higher. Joe Dumars is the most efficient player with his solid 3 & D. Isiah feels like he should be able to do so much more around the rim than he does though. His height & not being able to dunk in light traffic really, really hurts his inside game. Laimbeer has one of the worst shots to time (even though his 3 is a decent rating). Rodman is nice, but this year just has terrible spacing.
39. 72 Knicks - Walt Frazier is seriously underrated in this game. Not a single weakness in his game. This team's main issue is having a strong enough center to hold their own. Barnett is terrible, but still not a bad tier 3 team.
40. 96 Sonics - It frustrates me to have to put the Sonics & Jazz as low as I have to, since these 2teams are probably the next best teams of the 90s outside the Bulls. But Kemp can't really defend at the C position & Schrempf is arguably the worst 84 ovr in the game (0 defense & slow). This team, other than Gary Payton & Kemp PnR, doesn't have much going for it. Just a bad defensive team besides the Glove.
41. 98 Jazz - As mentioned previously, this squad should be much better. Stockton & Malone play about 10 points below their 93 & 96 overalls. The rest of the team doesn't provide a whole lot else.
42. 00 Raptors - This team is a joke to be tier 1. Yes, Carter is obviously great & T-Mac plays above his ratings, but the rest of the team has no business on the same court as other their 1 teams. Less than average spacing & Bogues is just too small.
43. 06 Grizzlies - This team isn't outright terrible, but the lack of any explosive players hurts this team. Gasol is ok, & even the spacing from the team as a whole is ok, but this team can't create their own shot well at all.
44. 91 Lakers - A severely watered down version of the 87 team. The spacing is what really hurts this team more than anything.
45. 14 Pacers - No Lance Stephenson or George Hill hurts this team bad. Not much besides PG.
46. 14 Clippers - Not having Blake ruins the fun this team used to have. While you'll still have decent spacing if you Sub in Crawford & Granger or Turk, it's a massive defensive liability.
47. 02 Nets - I love Jason Kidd, but he doesn't have the team to showcase all his skills. Van Horn & Kittles are massive defensive liabilities, & you're better off subbing Jefferson for their starting C.
48. 03 Mavs - Hands down, bar none, EASILY THE WORST defensive team in the game. It's laughable how bad they are on defense/rebounding. Your only saving grace is if you go up against another team that can't space or if they don't have guys with menace or glove badges. They are a decent offensive team that can space, but they are just physically weaker & inferior to most other teams.
49. 00 Blazers - Much like the 06 Grizzlies, they just don't have anyone that can create their own shot. Having Sheed would definitely help this team.
50. 89 Bulls - The worst iteration of the 93 Bulls. MJ is still GOATED, but the rest of the roster is not good. Scottie is barely passable too.
51. 94 Rockets - 2k should've done away with this squad & replaced them with the 95 squad with Drexler years ago. If you can contain Haleem, you can easily beat this team. They have arguably the worst back court in the entire game. No defense & just incredibly unathletic, despite Kenny Smith being much better irl.
52. 77 76ers - This really isn't a bad team, but they are one of the worst when it comes to spacing. Dr J doesn't have a whole lot of help with this team even though the ratings show otherwise.
53. 91 Warriors - Absolutely terrible front court, & it doesn't help that the perimeter defense isn't very good either. Run TMC won't be lighting anybody up in 2k anytime soon.
54. 95 Knicks - Unfortunately, this team doesn't have Anthony Mason. Again, spacing is the main issue with this team, & nobody can create their own shot unless Ewing gets a favorable mismatch.
55. 91 Blazers - This team literally had nothing besides Clyde & a small dosage of Terry Porters defense. Terrible front court & you'll need to bring in Danny Ainge for spacing (but terrible defense).
56. 01 76ers - This is a pretty bad team from top to bottom, and it doesn't help that 2k can't seem to make Iverson dominant in 2k. With all that said, this team is pretty bad & has no right being a tear 1 team.
57. 85 Bucks - This team has actually great defense, but they lack spacing and are slower than dirt. Fastbreaks kill this team.
58. 90 Cavs - Spacing isn't an issue with this team quite as much as others from the era, but nobody with speed above 79 is pretty bad. Good luck penetrative the paint.
59. 93 Hornets - Spacing is awful. Nobody can create their own shot, & Mourning is much better on the 97 Heat than here. Larry Johnson is ok, but seems average compared to other 4s.
60. 13 Grizzlies - This poor team got stripped & had everything taken from them. They're unusable at this point. No spacing to speak of besides Conley.
61. 03 Suns - Not sure why this team was ever added to be honest. Literally nothing here besides Marbury & whatever animations Penny & Marion have left on them.
62. 04 Pistons - This team deserves so much better. No Sheed & no prince makes this team unbearable to use. If you're not calling 100 screens for RIP Hamilton to get open, I don't see how you score with this team.
63. 86 Bulls - The worst version of MJ, & the worst supporting cast besides a washed Gervin. No spacing & everyone else is just slow.
64. 65 Lakers - It's hard to imagine a classic teams with 2 90+ ovr players being the 2nd worst team, but that's how awful the rest of the supporting cast is. Elgin & West really have to drag this team
65. 86 Hawks - This team is just awful. Easily the worst of the worst. Wilkins is the only bright spot, but the rest of this team literally can't play basketball at even the lowest levels.
Honorable mentions -
08 Hornets - 2k scrapped this team for unknown reasons. They were really fun, probably rank somewhere in the middle.
85 76ers - This team has been gone since Moses Malone passed away, but they were a decent squad. Obviously would've been even better if they had Barkley.
71 Hawks - Pistol Pete was fun to use, but besides him & Lou Hudson, that team sucked.
65 Celtics- Really hate that this team had to be taken out this year. So many of their players have passed in recent years, so it's understandable I guess. But this was one of the best defensive teams in the entire game, & Bill Russell was a MONSTER on the glass.
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02-23-2025, 01:59 PM
