Affiliations have been a staple in NBA 2K since they were introduced in MyPark in NBA 2K15. Virtual hoopers from around the world took pride in representing their squad, whether it was the Old Town Flyers, Rivet City Rough Riders, or Sunset Beach Ballers. Then from 2K18-20, there were no affiliations but 2K then brought them back in 2K21 on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S version of the game when they had four affiliations: The North Side Knights, Beast of the East, South City Vipers, and Western Wildcats.
Those were the affiliations from 2K21-23, and now things are cut down to just two groups in NBA 2K24. These teams are called Elite and Rise. You’ll need to talk to 2KTV Host/Producer Chris Manning (AKA LD2K) who’s the leader of Elite and content creator ShakeDown who’s the leader of Rise.
Each affiliation has their unique parks down the road from each other. Elite offers a futuristic, interstellar kind of park with massive arch-type structures that tower over most of The City. Rise features a more aquatic setting with octopus tentacles and a giant statue of Poseidon being seen throughout it. It also features an underwater court as well.
Once you join either Elite or Rise, you can now start earning REP, which is a returning feature that is very well received. However, it’s not as easy as just joining an affiliation. There are quests you need to complete in order to be accepted into either one (don’t worry, it’s all related to basketball — no selling hot dogs or anything). And in this article, we’ll tell you what those requirements and what benefits each affiliation has. By the way, in case you didn’t play 2K in the mid 2010s, from 2K15-17, affiliations each had their own on-court boosts. For Old Town, it was Playmaking, for Rivet City, it was Defense/Rebounding and for Sunset Beach, it was Shooting. And so boosts like these have returned for 2K24 with Elite and Rise.
Let’s kick things off with Elite’s requirements and boosts.
To join you’ll need to do the following:
On-court boosts:
To join, you’ll need to do the following
On-court boosts:
Initially, we were going to mention pros and cons but honestly, it just depends on your MyPlayer build and what your goals are. The big question you’ll need to ask yourself is do you want to strengthen a strength or strengthen a weakness? And keep in mind again that the boosts are only giving you +1 on attributes, so if you have a MyPlayer build with super low finishing and playmaking attributes (let’s say somewhere between 25 and 45), then Rise may not be the best option. However, if most attributes in those categories are at 70-75 but are still considered more of your weak links, then maybe you’d consider Rise.
Or, of course, if you have great shooting and defensive attributes and want to boost those even further, then you might want to join Elite. In the end it’s all centered around your build. Don’t worry, if you join one affiliation and don’t feel satisfied with it, you can transfer over to the other one. However, your REP will reset if you’ve made progress. But, if you haven’t progressed much, then transferring won’t be a big deal. Whatever your choice, there’s a little something for everybody.
Colin Mieczkowski has been a writer for Operation Sports for a bit now and loves golf and basketball games. In addition, he's really been bewitched by the Steam Deck and has been looking for any and all ways to play sports games on Steam's portable device. When he's not playing PGA Tour 2K, NBA 2K, or EA Sports PGA Tour, you can find him watching plenty of sports on TV.
