NBA 2K26 has been available on PC and both generations of Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles since September 5, giving fans of the sports series ample time to praise what they love about this year’s installment and figure out what they don’t like. And this year, like many recent entries, the complaints are much more common and much louder than the praise.
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One of the big talking points among NBA 2K26 players is the shooting. If you have deja vu, it is because shooting has been a big talking point for several installments in a row now, with developer Visual Concepts seemingly unable to find the sweet spot. With NBA 2K26, Visual Concepts actually made some substantial changes to shooting based on fan feedback, including removing RNG. Going into the release of the game, fans were hopeful the rework would improve this core element of the gameplay. It hasn’t, though.
Controversial Mechanic
Right now, NBA 2K26 players have described the game as a “catch and shoot simulator.” In other words, shooting is too easy and too overpowered, so the meta right now is just to shoot on sight. To be fair, perimeter shooting dominates the NBA, but not to the level it is dominating the NBA 2K26 meta, which at times feels like a hyperbolic parody of the NBA.
Within the three-point shooting meta, there is one particular element that has really left players unhappy, and it is often described as the “7’4s” problem. The NBA 2K26 Reddit page is littered with posts and videos complaining about this particular meta, which has big men shooting from the 3-point line in an unrealistic, game-breaking style.
“Yeah, I’m done playing until 7’4s get patched,” reads one of these many posts. “Just finished playing a starting five game against a 7’4 who literally just stood at the top of the key shooting over everyone’s brain dead. Hands up, D? No contest, automatic green. You jump? It’s a foul, 3 free throws. You get a lucky no-call/contest while jumping? Doesn’t matter, 10% contest at best, it’s still green. Call a double team? Dude falls on the ground as he shoots, wide open, green. Literally the only thing stopping them is user error in a 2K game with its biggest green window yet. I honestly can’t believe the devs didn’t see this as a problem when they released the game and still haven’t done anything about it.”
As the point alludes to, this issue is solvable, but so have many of the issues plaguing NBA 2K for years, yet they haven’t been fixed, or if they have, the solution has created new problems. Like other sports games, NBA 2K has been struggling mightily with game balance, partially due to the yearly release schedule, which does not permit much change beyond band-aid solutions.
“Giving 7’4″s anything above 83 three-point was a huge mistake,” reads one of the comments.
Other comments point out that this has also ruined the fun for anyone who wants to play a more traditional — and realistic — big man, because on defense, they are forced to chase around these shooting 7’4s, leaving them no option to rebound or defend the paint.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think, or join the conversation on the ComicBook Forum. Have you noticed this issue while playing NBA 2K26?
