NBA 2K24‘s MyNBA Eras is a feature that offers something that remains unmatched in other sports games: the opportunity to travel back in time to re-live the league’s rich history and even right perceived wrongs from its past.
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It was first introduced in NBA 2K23 with a few choice options that allowed you to experience Jordan’s title runs with the Bulls in the ’90s and the Bird vs. Magic years in the ’80s. MyNBA Eras was then expanded upon in NBA 2K24 to include LeBron taking his talents to South Beach with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. An interesting wrinkle to the mode is how you not only play as the legendary champions of the era but can also take the reins of a different contender to see if you’re able to rewrite history. Just two years into its development, it’s understandable that the game has only been able to include a handful of options so far. Assuming the plan is to continue to build on the mode, there are a number of other possibilities that could be added in the coming years.
Let’s have a look at five other candidates for MyNBA Eras that would be nice to see featured in NBA 2K25 and beyond, along with rival teams from the period that could be alternatives to choose if you’re hoping to have someone else dominate the era.
2016 Golden State Warriors
The last of the NBA superteams, this would see you starting out with the Golden State Warriors in 2016 just as Kevin Durant is arriving in town. Joining a core powered by Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson, expectations will be high considering the team is coming off a 73-9 season and that’s before adding one of the best players in the world in Durant. Perhaps you’ll be able to do what the real Warriors weren’t quite capable of achieving by stringing together at least three championships in a row. This will be easier if you’re able to avoid the kind of devastating injuries sustained by Durant and Thompson in the 2019 Finals against the Raptors. The challenge will be keeping the band together as long as possible and being able to avoid Durant leaving for Brooklyn like he did in real life.
Alternative: While NBA 2K24 currently includes LeBron’s days in Miami, this one would present an opportunity to jump into his career while he’s in the midst of enjoying his Cleveland homecoming with the Cavs. As you try to take down the intimidating Warriors, let’s hope you can pull off something as memorable as the 3-1 series comeback that LeBron and the team had just pulled off in the 2016 NBA Finals.
2004 San Antonio Spurs
Because the championships won by the San Antonio Spurs in the Tim Duncan era were so spread out over the years (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014), the best place for NBA 2K to start would probably be smack dab in the middle of it in 2004, right after the retirement of David Robinson. With Duncan supported by a frontcourt that includes Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, the pieces are in place here for years of stability and the chemistry under coach Gregg Popovich is palpable. You’ll need to fend off strong competition though, with the West alone bearing the fearsome likes of Kobe’s Lakers and Dirk Nowitzki’s ascendant Mavericks. It may take acquiring another player or two via trade or free agency if you want to be consistent and come away with more championships than the real Spurs were able to claim.
Alternative: Steve Nash was the league MVP in 2005 and 2006 and yet his Phoenix Suns teams were never able to enjoy much in the way of playoff success. But you’ll be able to remedy that by taking control of Nash and his sidekick Shawn Marion to lead them to the promised lands that they were never able to reach.
1988 Detroit Pistons
Between the Bird/Magic era of the ’80s and Michael Jordan’s reign in the ’90s, there were a couple of years where the bad boy Detroit Pistons ruled over the NBA with iron fists. This era scenario would pick up the year after the Pistons have fallen to the Lakers in 7 games and Detroit has become the biggest rivals to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference. Showcasing a brand of basketball that involved exerting their physical dominance over the opposition by any means necessary, their rebellious edge was personified by Dennis Rodman and Bill Laimbeer in the paint. These enforcers helped clear space for the team’s best scorers like Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars to operate and drain shots.
Alternative: Rewrite the final chapters of either Magic or Bird’s careers and create a different ending for the Lakers or Celtics in the ’90s by adding another championship or two to their list of accomplishments.
1977 Seattle Supersonics
Before Shawn Kemp was throwing down dunks for the Supersonics in the ’90s and long before the team relocated to Oklahoma City, Seattle were actually the winners of an NBA championship. Since at least some of the appeal of MyNBA Eras should be learning about teams and players from years past that may have been forgotten by time, transporting you onto the 1977 Supersonics would be a fun and informative exercise. That would serve as a proper introduction to a team that fell to the Washington Bullets in 7 games in the 1978 Finals but then turned around the very next year to beat those same Bullets in just 5 games in the 1979 NBA Finals. This is a group that didn’t have anyone score more than 20 points a game over the two seasons and yet had seven players on the roster average double digits in points in each of those same years.
Alternative: Considering how the Bullets appeared in back-to-back NBA Finals just like the Supersonics and even won one of them, it’s likely that they would be the most obvious choice if you’re in search of an alternative. But let’s avoid predictability and go with Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers instead, who finished near the top of the Eastern Conference standings in both seasons. Try to bring Dr. J a championship earlier than the reality of 1983 by going through the Bullets and Supersonics.
1956 Boston Celtics
Venturing deep into the NBA’s storied history, join the Boston Celtics in 1956 at the exact moment a rookie named Bill Russell has been traded to the team. How many championships will you be able to secure during his 13-year career in Boston? Do you think you can do better than the astonishing 11 that he and the franchise accumulated in real life? If nothing else, this would ideally at least be a satisfying way to honor the legacy of the late great Russell and help to shine a spotlight on an era of basketball that deserves some appreciation.
Alternative: Did you hear what I just said? The Celtics won 11 championships in 13 years. Are you absolutely sure you’d want to choose another team other than them to run with over that stretch? Okay then, let’s go with the St. Louis Hawks, who won their first and only championship in 1958 when they beat Russell and the Celtics in the finals.
