Whether you like it or not, it’s become apparent by this point that it’s practically impossible to perform all that well in certain online modes in NBA 2K22 without maximizing the number of badges at your disposal. Whether you’re playing MyTeam games or linking up with others with your created player(s) in the Neighborhood on current-gen or in The City on next-gen, the best way to ensure that you can measure up against others is by equipping the players on your MyTeam or your MyPlayer with as many of these badges as you possibly can.
Anyone who has played even just a short amount of time online will know that not only is it absolutely necessary to have as many badges equipped as possible from a competitive standpoint, but there are are also an inordinate number of different ones that can all buff specific abilities. A cynic could easily look at NBA 2K‘s approach the last several years and draw the conclusion that they’ve made the pursuit of badges so integral to the game that it’s become way more important to have the right badges activated at the highest HOF level than it is to have any sort of skills on the sticks. At times, it can seem as if they function more like superpowers than anything resembling basketball fundamentals since some have less in the way of real parallels than others. It’s significantly more realistic and believable, for instance, that someone could become better at boxing out someone for a rebound than it is to suggest that someone with an Intimidator badge can use his mere presence to get players to routinely miss easy dunks.
It’s enough to get me wondering what other badges NBA 2K22 developers might have considered before settling on the ones that are already in the game. So, in the spirit of late-night legend David Letterman, here are the top 10 rejected NBA 2K22 badges.
Top 10 Rejected Badges For NBA 2K22
Dribbling 101
Based on how NBA 2K22 almost prevents you from doing some of the most basic basketball tasks unless, of course, you have a related badge equipped, it’s surprising that they did not take this one step further. If they ever were thinking of getting truly diabolical, they might have wanted to consider introducing this new badge that you must have equipped in some capacity if you want to be able to even bounce the ball on the floor. “That’s madness!” those who play NBA 2K every year would scream before grinding away to make sure they have that badge unlocked for their new build.
Impossible Shots
You’ve heard of the Difficult Shots badge? Meet its even more alluring cousin, the Impossible Shots badge. It can make it so no defender will ever be able to negatively impact your chances of making a jumper. When this baby is maxed out, it won’t matter if you’re shooting from half court with two different players’ hands in your face, you’ll still be able to green that shot with the same sort of ease that you see most players exhibit when at the free throw line.
Keep Away
It happens all too often where you’re playing a game in the Rec Center and you might as well not even exist on offense based on the number of times your teammates are willing to look your way and pass you the ball. With the Keep Away badge in your arsenal, you’ll at least be able to contribute to your team’s success with this badge. The way the badge would function is that the longer you go without getting the ball in your hands, the more of a bonus your teammates receive to their abilities.
Dunk Preventer
Taking the Intimidator badge one step further, the new Dunk Preventer badge works exactly as its name says by ensuring that even the most elite of players at stuffing the ball in the basket from point-blank range would inexplicably struggle doing just that. When you have this equipped at the highest levels and are standing anywhere close to the basket, would-be jammers will be looking to the sky positively befuddled when even their secure two-handed slams are turned away as if there was some invisible shield covering the hoop. Naturally, the only way to potentially combat this powerful badge is to have…
Dunk Master
In keeping with the way NBA 2K22 seems to position some badges to almost be direct counters to other badges, the Dunk Master badge would almost be a requirement to have equipped at some level if you want to be able to get a dunk down against someone with the Dunk Preventer badge. Given how often now in the game players will totally whiff on dunks simply because another player is in the general vicinity, it might even be preferable to have something like the Dunk Master badge in the game — provided it adds a little more realism, relatively speaking, to the game above the rim.
Ref’s Pet
If you’re like so many other online players and love to spam that steal button but keep getting pestered by that annoying ref who keeps ruining your fun by calling you for these things called fouls, then you’d probably be an ideal candidate to consider equipping the Ref’s Pet badge. Depending on what level you have it equipped, the ref in the game will start to be able to overlook everything from minor bumps at the rim to outright assaults when trying to strip someone of the ball. Now players will be able to spam steal until their heart’s content and not have to worry about suffering any consequences at all.
Rebound Morpher
Given how frequently it can happen in NBA 2K22 now, it might at least be nice to have a badge that helps explain how players that you have boxed out perfectly in the paint are somehow able to end up on the other side of you before they inevitably end up grabbing the ball. This Rebound Morpher badge attaches a cause to the strange phenomenon, enabling you to straight up pass through the bodies of other human beings without initiating any sort of loose ball foul (do those even exist in online play?) and making this defiance of physics an actual skill that you can possess rather than an unfortunate glitch.
Speed Demon
To make it even more of a challenge to defend small guards, the Speed Demon badge would see these shifty builds become whirling dervishes like the Tasmanian Devil as they flit around outside of the three-point line. Good luck trying to stay in front of someone you can barely even see, and you better be prepared to regularly find yourself stumbling around after having your ankles broken. Anyone unlucky enough to be tasked with trying to shut you down will be left desperately screaming out “help!” in hopes that their teammates are able to cut you off as you zip to the hoop.
Gatorade Fiend
Furthering the longstanding partnership between NBA 2K and Gatorade, this badge promoting hydration is the kind that hopefully Bobby Boucher would love. By having this equipped, you would be transforming yourself into someone who puts quenching their thirst as a top priority. The real benefit to this would come in the form of stamina during a game. It would drain at a significantly slower rate — if at all when badged to Hall of Fame level — than those who aren’t putting back nearly as much Gatorade as you are every chance that you get.
Globetrotter
You’ve probably seen some of the Harlem Globetrotters’ best trick shots and funniest moments that they routinely pull off in their lopsided exhibition games against the beleaguered Washington Generals (if you haven’t, that’s what YouTube is for), and this badge would give you the opportunity to pull some of those off on the court. From fancy dribble moves to sinking long-distance shots with your back turned, this badge will make you able to pull off an assortment of their signature moves. However, it might not exactly be considered fair or realistic to expect that you would be allowed to pull out any ladders or buckets of confetti while in the midst of a rec game. But then again, the words “fair” and “realistic” have never exactly been synonymous with NBA 2K, especially when it comes to their use of badges.
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Published: Feb 28, 2022 02:15 pm