Brandon Kosal: NBA 2K has done a remarkable job of staying on top of the sports gaming industry in recent years, and winning OS’ sports game of the year four years straight proves how much this game resonates with fans. When you consider how much fans love OOTP and the Show, and how much longer Madden, NHL and FIFA have been around, it’s pretty incredible that 2K has shot past them all.

Jayson Young: The NBA 2K series began this generation as a ridiculously good-looking game that was missing features, lacking depth and was riddled with technical issues. Two sequels later, and NBA 2K16 now offers plenty of compelling modes to play, plus it has solved most of the product's networking problems, apart from Pro-Am's "waiting for opponent" connection countdowns, and MyTeam's maddening "0-0 arbitration losses."

The gameplay allows for more creativity and contains more on-court options than any other sports title, thanks to this year's rebuilt team playbooks and added freelance offenses. The 30 NBA franchises and hundreds of past/present NBA players all look and act closer to their real-life selves than the athletes do in any other sports video game. NBA 2K16's massive roster is so closely detailed, that even a journeyman role player like Steve Novak has his signature "championship belt" celebration properly replicated.

Visual Concepts' poorly conceptualized and weakly supported MyTeam mode still can't compete with EA's Ultimate Team offerings, but all of NBA 2K16's other features are either at the top or near the top of the sports genre. That same industry-leading quality is present in superficial aspects like graphics, animation, commentary, and presentation packages.

Ben Vollmer: As great as the NBA 2K franchise has been, it's a mild disappointment that for the fourth year in a row there has not really been a solid candidate among the regular circulation of sports titles to dethrone it. Regardless, NBA 2K16 is far and away the best of the series and continues to improve upon its weaknesses -- something that other franchises sometimes continue to struggle with.

Chase Becotte: I don't really think it's that surprising. It has not always been my sports game of the year, but it comes to the point with a yearly title where if you dominate long enough, you're going to end up as the default choice. And that's not me bagging on NBA 2K -- it deserves these awards -- it's more me saying to unseat the champ you have to go above and beyond what the champ is doing, and maybe even do it for more than one year. It's the same with real sports. If you're Michael Jordan, even if you're not statistically the best player in any one season, it doesn't necessarily mean you're not still considered the best. NBA 2K has earned the right to be the franchise to beat.
 

2. What is the secret/special sauce that keeps NBA 2K here in your opinion?

Brandon Kosal: Like every other game out there, NBA 2K is not perfect and could always get better. But the folks over at 2K have found a nice balance between innovation and continuous improvement, which is a different way of saying they don’t try to reinvent the wheel every year (except when it comes to changing the controls!). 2K works so well because, well, it always has. Perhaps more than any game out there, 2K is a fantastic virtual replication of the real-life product. Fans won’t get excited for things like "team relocation" if the gameplay is trash. 2K has established a great gameplay base from which they can make improvements and innovations every year, and fans of the series recognize that.

Jayson Young: The development team continues to make lots of core improvements while also writing and directing a new MyCareer mini-movie every season. Visual Concepts is the only studio that's using cutscenes and voice actors to tell a sports story, instead of relying on old-fashioned spreadsheets, still photos and text boxes.

Ben Vollmer: The gameplay has been outstanding for nearly a decade, but the real surprise here is how well everything in the game fits together. There is a mode for just about everything you could possibly want to do, and Visual Concepts continues to do what many other developers won't: get out of the way and let players customize. MyLeague continues to be the most fascinating feature in sports gaming, offering an option or slider for just about everything you could possibly imagine. Having an intriguing MyPlayer and some great online modes is icing on the cake.

Chase Becotte: NBA 2K seemingly has something for everyone, and it's the most interesting, if not most visually arresting, game on a moment to moment basis. The Show is a beautiful game, but it can't always "wow" you like NBA 2K can with an insane dunk or an amazing celebration. Maybe that's just an advantage basketball has over baseball as a visual medium, but either way NBA 2K can impress you in a variety of ways. On top of that, the NBA 2K developers treat and talk about their game the "right" way. The developers don't ignore the mainstream audience and will put out amazing trailers anyone can get behind, but they'll also spend 10,000 words digging into what they changed with a gameplay feature to satiate the more rabid audience.



Brandon Kosal: I don’t see a realistic way for any game to unseat 2K next year, with the possible exception of The Show. Why? Because no other game is close, and if history has taught us anything, sports games improve over several years, not via a one-year 180-degree turnaround. Given the sport’s and franchise’s popularity in the US, Madden will remain in the conversation for the foreseeable future, but I don’t think it holds a candle to 2K in terms of both gameplay and extras. The Show doesn’t need any grand gameplay tweaks, but it badly needs a makeover, a new coat of paint or something. If Sony knocks it out of the park -- excuse the unavoidable pun -- and 2K has an off year, The Show has a shot. But the smart money is on 2K to take the crown again next year.

Jayson Young: It would take a complete culture change for conservative companies like Sony San Diego and Electronic Arts to suddenly catch up to whatever wild direction NBA 2K17 is headed. EA's and Sony's sports titles have both been content this generation to keep creating iterative, not innovative, products.

Ben Vollmer: Looking forward to next year, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Madden 17 does everything it can to unseat NBA 2K. I have been really impressed with the improvement in this year's Madden title and have been critical of MLB: The Show's slow improvement and unwillingness to change. I think, for the most part, Madden is a few key gameplay changes and one really in-depth career mode away from a fantastic football game. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

Chase Becotte: As Kevin Garnett would say, "ANYTHING'S POSSIBLEEEEEEEE."