With the release of latest edition of the NBA 2K franchise, NBA 2K26, millions of basketball fans will hop on the virtual court and play out their dreams as an NBA or WNBA star. Joining them will be a number of actual NBA and WNBA players, as this current generation of stars grew up right alongside the video game that they now find themselves in.
CBS Sports spoke with three of those young stars — Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey and Paige Bueckers — before the video game’s Sept. 5 release about how NBA 2K has impacted their growth as point guards and understanding of the game of basketball, and how they still use it to scout opponents (and potential future teammates).
All three of the All-Stars are in their 20s, which means 2K was quite literally part of their basketball upbringing, and each noted that seeing themselves in the game for the first time (not just as a created MyPlayer) was an early highlight in their career.
“It’s kind of surreal. I mean, it’s a blessing. I thank God,” Maxey said. “For me to be able to grow up playing 2K, playing with guys like AI [Allen Iverson], playing with guys like — Paul George is one of the first people I played with on like, PlayStation 4, I think. And it’s like, now he’s my teammate, and I’m in the game doing like, 2K shoots, in commercials. It’s really amazing.”
“I feel like I wake up every single day, and I feel like I’m living in my childhood dream,” Bueckers said about her rookie year. “I used to play 2K with my siblings all the time. I still play to this day. My little brother was over at the house this last week playing 2K, and so for him to be able to play as me, it’s just a dream come true. It’s honestly hard to like put into words what it all means, just because I was such a little kid, just a fan of the game. And so to grow up and be here now, it’s definitely amazing. I’m very blessed.”
For Bueckers in particular, seeing herself and the rest of the WNBA represented in the video game world is particularly important because it’s still very new. The WNBA made its debut in…
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