There are also a few bugs that keep popping up. Every once in a while, the ref will just hold onto the ball on an out of bounds play and not allow the player to throw it in. The only way around this is to call a time out. Another, more sinister bug pops up when getting fouled taking a three-point shot. The game only allows two shots instead of three; this happened in a multi-player game when one team was down three and was fouled taking a shot from 25 feet out at the buzzer. The announcer said that three shots were coming, but after the second made free throw, that was it. Game over. Bugs like this have the ability to completely ruin a game.

Association Mode (the game’s franchise mode) works pretty well and comes with the prized ability to edit player ratings inside the mode, which every game should allow you to do. The problem is that rookies are too slow to develop and after a few seasons the league is littered with players rated from 95 to 99. It turns into a league full of ultra superstars, which not only affects rookie development but makes the teams less identifiable because everyone is a stud.

Still, Associate Mode allows up to eight people to play and does keep rosters dynamic and the free agent signing and draft logic AI is pretty solid, but without a top flight player progression model this mode will remain marginal. In addition to Association Mode, the new Dunk Contest is a surprisingly fun little party game. It’s not terribly deep, but for a 30 minute goof off with friends, it’s not too bad.

Online play, as well as hot-seat play, is the best way to play NBA 2K8. This eliminates much of the low post issues and if you can find people that enjoy playing serious basketball you can get a season’s worth of enjoyment just by playing in online leagues and tourneys. Of course, finding good players is the key, but if you can sort through the Xbox Live Wasteland and find fun people to play with, NBA 2K8’s online play is simply fantastic.

In fact, most of the game is fantastic. Even with its hiccups, this is a game that is hard not to give a blanket recommendation to because as far as NBA games go, this is still the king of the virtual court.