[4][5] A teaser of the game was released on June 11, 2020, during the PS5 Reveal Event and featured the player model of New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson.

[6] On June 30, 2020, NBA 2K announced Damian Lillard, of the Portland Trail Blazers, would be the cover for the standard edition on the previous-generation consoles.

[7] On July 1, 2020, NBA 2K announced Zion Williamson as the cover athlete for the standard edition of the next-generation consoles.

This game mode has packs (or loot boxes) that can be purchased with Virtual Currency (VC) or My Team Points (MT).

In the next-generation release for the game, The MyCareer online staple The Neighborhood mode was rebranded into The City with the return of affiliations from NBA 2K16.

Although the player can play in affiliations that they are not a member of, there is a penalty by reducing the amount of MyRep experience gained in matches.

Compared to prior titles, eighth-generation console releases of NBA 2K21 were left with little changes for their staple franchise modes, MyLeague and MyGM.

The boom/bust system was also revamped, giving more unpredictability to draft prospects and young players in terms of how their career will turn out.

"[23] Ben Vollmer from IGN gave the game a score of 6 out of 10, stating "More of the same isn't good enough anymore, especially when it includes such obtrusive microtransactions."

Maybe the new set of consoles on the horizon will bring a fresh start for the NBA 2K franchise, but right now I feel more pessimistic about the series’ future than ever.