I'm playing on All Star and cpu is far from brain dead both offensively and defensively. I'm a NBA2k vet for 24 years and this year's game is one the most challenging ones. The majority of my All Star difficulty games are so close it's getting ridiculous now. Ofc it might be a skill issue, you might be way better than me. I play on Real Player % and I feel that if I go to Superstar difficulty I'll be totally destroyed by the cpu.