Operation Sports: Will there be a RPG style option like the one stated in NCAA Basketball 2k3? - If so, will it be lockable per game or season? (For this, ever thought about a first person view for your controlled player while sitting on the bench?)

Jeremy Tiner: No

Operation Sports: Will there be a create-a-team feature like NFL2k?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes

Operation Sports: Will you be able to choose which style jersey your team wears (for the teams that do have a choice of more than two jerseys and according to home and away matches)

Jeremy Tiner: Yes, in an Exhibition game.

Operation Sports: Can you play with custom rosters online? And what online features will be available?

Jeremy Tiner: No. Default rosters only online. As for online features, roster updates will be available online. Online gameplay modes include Exhibition and Street Courts.

Operation Sports: Will Jordan be in his prime for the legends teams?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes

Operation Sports: Are there any post-season awards?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes there are a whole host of post-season awards now. NBA2k3 will feature the MVP, Playoff MVP, Finals MVP, Rookie of the year, 6th Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the year, NBA 1st Team, NBA 2nd Team, NBA 3rd Team and NBA Defensive Team awards.

Operation Sports: With downloadable rosters, will the ratings also be adjusted as a player improves?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes

Operation Sports: Can you give us some info on the franchise mode? 10-day contracts, restricted FA etc.?

Jeremy Tiner: Franchise mode has been completely re-written for NBA2k3 to add much more depth and realism to the mode. You will now be in full control of many aspects of an NBA franchise, such as player transactions, coaching and allocating resources for scouting draft prospects. Most of the work in Franchise mode is done in the off-season. This begins with player retirements, then on to the free agent re-signing period, the draft lottery, player scouting, the NBA draft, a free agent signing period, training camp, and finally on to pre-season. Franchise mode will feature advanced trade logic that will factor in a player’s potential, contract status, position and overall ability. Trades must also adhere to the real NBA trading rules so you will really only see trades that could really happen in the NBA. There are also additional extras features for added realism and depth like foreign talent in the draft, free agents who are unsatisfied in the FA market signing for the exception on a top team to make a run at a championship, simulation strategy settings, a trading block to field offers for your players and more. Both hardcore and casual NBA fans will have a lot of fun with it.

Operation Sports: Can you control what you download when you download rosters? I'd like their appearance and ratings to change but if my favorite players get injured in real life, I don't want them taken out of my game.

Jeremy Tiner: No

Operation Sports: Will the downloadable extras and additions be collected every month or so and added to the Official Magazine Demo Discs for gamers who won't be able to go online with their consoles?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes, we are currently working with various venues so that consumers who do not have online access through their consoles will be able to get roster updates. Be on the lookout for future announcements at Segasports.com.

Operation Sports: Will we see any aging in players? Basically will players have a mind of their own? Will some guys go bald or some may decide to color their hair?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes, players will decline in franchise mode as they get older. They will not change graphically though, although they may lose the ability to perform some of the fancier moves as an older player.

Operation Sports: Can you disable computer trading in a season if you prefer to keep rosters up to date?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes, the AI will not initiate trades in Season Mode.

Operation Sports: I just played a franchise with 2k2 and after the 1st year, Chris Webber retired w/o injury. 3 seasons later players like Kobe, Marbury, Van Horn would retire after 8 years. Will that be fixed?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes, Players will retire at a much more realistic pace than in 2k2. Great players can play 20 years or even a little longer if they still have the skills to be effective.

Operation Sports: How do the salaries work?

Jeremy Tiner: Player values are determined by a number of factors, such as potential (assuming they still haven’t peaked), position and overall ability. Modifying contract length will also change a free agents interest level.

Operation Sports: Will the computer offer a trade with you in the regular season? It’s not realistic if you’re the only team offering trades.

Jeremy Tiner: AI teams will make offers based on players you put on the trading block. They will also put their own players on the block.

Operation Sports: Will you be able to Import college players from NCAA College Basketball 2003?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes

Operation Sports: Is player progression more based on playing time and how well he performs?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes. Players who get to start more games will progress faster and can get better overall than if they didn’t start in the earlier stages in their careers. Having a coach with a high teacher rating will also speed up your player’s growth and increase their overall potential growth.

Operation Sports: Can we actually see the draft order this year?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes, you will get to see the draft lottery odds, a draft lottery sequence where the lottery positions are unveiled and a draft order wrap-up.

Operation Sports: Will we see half empty arenas when the home team is struggling?

Jeremy Tiner: No, because every NBA team’s home fans come out no matter how bad they’re team is doing… right?

Operation Sports: Will we be able to see "player cards" like we can for NFL 2k3

Jeremy Tiner: Yes

Operation Sports: We should be able to look up how old a player is, height, weight, college, and career stats at ANY POINT in the game, can we?

Jeremy Tiner: Player cards will be accessible from many areas of the game, including many screens in franchise mode.

Operation Sports: Will we be able to edit the number of games in a season of FRANCHISE mode and Playoffs?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes. You can choose to play 14, 28, 56 and 82 game seasons. Individual playoff series lengths are also customizable to 7, 5, 3 and 1 game series.

Operation Sports: Will players come out of high school for the draft?

Jeremy Tiner: No.

Operation Sports: In last years franchise modes, all the rookies seemed to come from about 3 colleges or 1 high school, has the # of college rookies in franchise mode expanded?

Jeremy Tiner: We have a complete list of colleges, including the schools from NCAA. Rookies may also come from a variety of foreign countries.

Operation Sports: If you guys finish developing the game before all the free agents are signed, what will happen to them?

Jeremy Tiner: They will be in the free agent pool.

Operation Sports: Will we be able to use created players in franchise mode?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes

Operation Sports: Will there be a Franchise log type of thing where it keeps track of your franchise players over the years? I know there will be a team record over the years you've played and stuff but it would be cool to have a tally of how many of your players won MVP, ROY, all star teams.

Jeremy Tiner: No, good idea though. =)

Operation Sports: Will there be a free-agent period at the end of the season like NFL2K3?

Jeremy Tiner: Yes, as well as a free-agent re-signing period.