Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey and Paige Bueckers explain how they use ‘NBA 2K’ to raise their basketball IQ

With the release of latest edition of the NBA 2K franchise, NBA 2K26, millions of basketball fans will hop on the virtual court and play out their dreams as an NBA or WNBA star.  Joining them will be a number of actual NBA and WNBA players, as this current generation of stars grew up right alongside the video game that they now find themselves in. 

CBS Sports spoke with three of those young stars — Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey and Paige Bueckers — before the video game’s Sept. 5 release about how NBA 2K has impacted their growth as point guards and understanding of the game of basketball, and how they still use it to scout opponents (and potential future teammates). 

All three of the All-Stars are in their 20s, which means 2K was quite literally part of their basketball upbringing, and each noted that seeing themselves in the game for the first time (not just as a created MyPlayer) was an early highlight in their career. 

“It’s kind of surreal. I mean, it’s a blessing. I thank God,” Maxey said. “For me to be able to grow up playing 2K, playing with guys like AI [Allen Iverson], playing with guys like — Paul George is one of the first people I played with on like, PlayStation 4, I think. And it’s like, now he’s my teammate, and I’m in the game doing like, 2K shoots, in commercials. It’s really amazing.” 

“I feel like I wake up every single day, and I feel like I’m living in my childhood dream,” Bueckers said about her rookie year. “I used to play 2K with my siblings all the time. I still play to this day. My little brother was over at the house this last week playing 2K, and so for him to be able to play as me, it’s just a dream come true. It’s honestly hard to like put into words what it all means, just because I was such a little kid, just a fan of the game. And so to grow up and be here now, it’s definitely amazing. I’m very blessed.”

For Bueckers in particular, seeing herself and the rest of the WNBA represented in the video game world is particularly important because it’s still very new. The WNBA made its debut in 2K back in 2019 and has steadily grown its presence in the game to this current edition. Seeing herself in the game is something Bueckers doesn’t take for granted. 

“It’s really important. I think representation matters a lot. When I grew up, I was a huge fan of the Minnesota Lynx, and just to dream and aspire to get to that level and have those women and have the league to look up to, to want to get to it just it just means a lot, the Hopkins, Minnesota native said. 

“And I know kids these days, a lot of them — I grew up playing video games. I grew up playing 2K and I know it’s the same with the next generation. And so to have that representation, to have that availability, I think we continue to see the momentum in women’s sports just continue to rise. And for us to have and be able to be on these platforms. It just means a lot to the game and to the next generation coming up.”

Now that they’re playing in the NBA and WNBA, getting on the sticks isn’t just a way to decompress at home, but it also offers a chance to get more mental reps without having to be in the gym. Each player pointed out things they’ve picked up from playing the video game, whether it’s making reads, identifying player tendencies or finding out how real the “teammate score” is in real life. 

“I feel like as a basketball player, you’re always a student of the game. Whether you’re watching it, playing it, playing on a video game, like you’re always learning something,” Bueckers explained. “And so when I was young, like, I think just watching it, playing 2K, it just grew my IQ for the game and how I think it and how I see it, kind of two steps ahead. And so I definitely think that helps. And also, now just knowing player tendencies, attributes and what they’re good at, 2K has it all really, so to be able to know that and see that, and now I’m playing against them, I’m sure it will help in the long run.”

The game also offers an opportunity for players to see what it might be like playing with new teammates who get added in free agency or a trade and shake up the roster. LeBron James once said he used 2K to run through what different Lakers’ lineups might look like, and Maxey and Haliburton have done the same. 

“When we first got James Harden a couple years ago,” Maxey recalled of a time he used 2K to see what playing with a new teammate would be like. “I was like, man, what is it gonna look like out there with myself, James, Joel, Tobias? Like that’s really just a crazy lineup.” 

Haliburton takes it a bit farther, not only looking at players his team has actually added, but doing some wheeling and dealing of his own as the Pacers’ GM to see what other trades might do for the team — calling himself a “special talent” as a GM. 

“I definitely have done that,” Haliburton said. “I’ve done that with, like, putting players on the team before they get to the team. Let me see his tendencies, let me see his hot spots, like how they fit with me. I do like MyGM and like MyNBA, simulating through the year to see, all right, if this guy was on our team, what does 2K think we would finish in the standings and stuff like that. So that’s always fun. I try to use the game to the best of my ability to learn as much as I can and also have fun with it.”

For Haliburton in particular, he plans on using 2K to help stay fully engaged with the game while rehabbing from an Achilles injury that will likely cost him the entire 2025-26 season. 

“I think just any way you can be around basketball in any shape, form or fashion, it always helps me. And obviously, with me going into the year not being able to play, I’ve been telling my boys like, I’ve been a 2K head for a long time, and over the last couple of years with how much I’m in the gym, and just all the responsibilities I haven’t been able to play as much as I did once upon a time. And I’ve been telling about aye, yo, like, ’26 this is the year. Like, I’m back to being the best in our friend group. Like, let’s really get to it.”

Even though playing 2K can help with their day job and offers a simulation aspect, sometimes they still just want to unwind and have it just be a video game. Haliburton and Bueckers each will create MyPlayers but won’t build themselves. Bueckers says she’ll make herself 6-foot-5, while Haliburton likes to see what life would be like as a “two way, long, athletic guy” who can defend every position. 

Maxey, meanwhile, takes a simpler approach and tries to pile up points with himself. 

“I played with my little cousin, maybe two, three weeks ago, and tried to score as many points as I could with myself. I ended up, like, 73,” Maxey said with a smile. “That was just fun.”