{ { Infobox video game
| title = NBA 2K21
| image = NBA 2K21 - Damian Lilliard cover art.jpg
| caption = Cover art for eighth generation consoles featuring Portland Trail Blazers's Damian Lillard | developer = Visual Concepts | publisher = 2K | series = NBA 2K | platform = | release = Microsoft Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, StadiaXbox Series X/SNovember 10, 2020PlayStation 5November 12, 2020Arcade Edition (Apple Arcade) April 2, 2021 | genre = Sports | modes = Single-player, multiplayer }}NBA 2K21' is a 2020 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. The game is based on the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is the 22nd installment in the NBA 2K franchise, the successor to NBA 2K20, and the predecessor to NBA 2K22. The game was released on September 4, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Google Stadia, and the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S versions were released on the consoles' respective launch dates. Most versions were released to heavy criticism, citing the lack of originality in the gameplay and many microtransactions and bugs.
The NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition was released for Apple Arcade on April 2, 2021.
Promotion
A teaser of the game was released on June 11, 2020, during the PS5 Reveal Event and featured the player model of New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson. It showed a few seconds of pre-alpha, in-engine footage, and showed many effects, such as ray-tracing and shadow details. On June 30, 2020, NBA 2K announced Damian Lillard, of the Portland Trail Blazers, would be the cover for the standard edition on the previous-generation consoles. On July 1, 2020, NBA 2K announced Zion Williamson as the cover athlete for the standard edition of the next-generation consoles. The last covers were released on July 2, 2020, honoring the late Kobe Bryant. The demo for the game was released on August 24, 2020
Gameplay
MyCareer
MyCareer, a major part of the series, returned as one of the available game modes. MyCareer is a career mode in which the player creates their own customizable basketball player and plays through their basketball career. Players may make a male or female player, although female player creation is exclusively available on next-gen consoles. The Neighborhood also returns to MyCareer, as 2K Beach, in which players can customize their wardrobe, get haircuts and tattoos, and purchase boosts. They can also do workouts and run drills to improve their character's attributes at their current team's practice facility. Progress in MyCareer may not carry over across generations, due to some changes made exclusively for next-gen.
MyTeam
In MyTeam, players collect cards of NBA players (current or past) to put on their team. This game mode has packs (or loot boxes) that can be purchased with Virtual Currency (VC) or My Team Points (MT). Players can also buy cards from each other at the auction house using VC or MT.
Ninth generation changes
In the next-generation release for the game, The MyCareer online staple The Neighborhood mode was rebranded into The City with the return of affiliations from NBA 2K16. Players start in Rookieville where they play similarly low-leveled players before they can choose an affiliation to enter The City. MyRep, the level system exclusive to The City mode, is shared across all MyPlayer builds, so players only have to level up out of Rookieville once for all their characters. Once a player levels out of Rookieville, they are automatically assigned without choice to one of four of The City's affiliations, ranging from the North Side Knights, South City Vipers, Beasts of the East, and the Western Wildcats. Players are free to switch their affiliation, however they are penalized for doing so by their level being reset down to Pro 1, the same level the player was upon leaving Rookieville. Although the player can play in affiliations that they are not a member of, there is a penalty by reducing the amount of MyRep experience gained in matches. Players can participate in quests given by NPCs, which are either single-player 3v3 games against famous basketball players, or playing games against other MyPlayers in The City. The rewards are typically VC and customizations.
Every affiliation has elections for a Mayor, which are typically community influencers who are responsible for making videos that display in-game, court designs, in-game playlists, design of murals, and uniform selections. Each mayoral term lasts 6 weeks.