NBA 2K17 Rotates Its Commentary Teams to Keep Things Fresh

Commentary invariably becomes stale in sports games. This year's Madden attempts to deal with that problem by releasing updated commentary throughout the season. 2K today shared NBA 2K17's approach, which is to offer a rotating team of commentators.

2K17 still features the same main team of Kevin Harlan and Greg Anthony, but it also has a rotating third slot for other analysts, such as Chris Webber, Doris Burke, Steve Smith, Brent Barry, and Clark Kellogg. They'll each be present for different games, helping to break up the monotony of hearing the same group sharing their thoughts on every game.

The video above showcases each of their personalities; there's no glimpse of fired-up Webber, which is the best Webber, but I can only hope he gets worked up about something.

Later in the video, we see some of the other ways 2K17 tries to feel more authentic, including David Aldridge doing his sideline reporting and new voice lines from NBA coaches. 2K says there are more than 200 such clips, as well as more than 150 interviews with NBA players for use during halftime and post-game segments. Likewise, each NBA arena's crowd and unique sound effects are all said to be here.

Finally, your MyPlayer will have the opportunity to be interviewed by Shaq and Kenny Smith, and you'll be able to choose your response to certain questions. As with seemingly everything that isn't directly a part of the on-court action, though, this is hardly the visual highlight of the game.

2K17 launches quite soon--it's out on September 20, though you can get your hands on it early by preordering. There's also a standalone app launching tomorrow, September 9, that lets you get ready for the full game's MyCareer mode.