Nah because at one point there used to be the nba games from Sony, the ones from EA and the ones from 2K.

And I don’t even know if there is a Euroleague game or whatever.

So basically, from what I know, if you enjoy basketball and want to play basketball videogames, you only have NBA 2K as a sim.

It’s also why I kind of stopped playing basketball videogames and only play in real life and watch games.

No, because there are plenty of other places to get coffee. The only competing franchise, NBA Live, stopped being made years ago. The irony is that NBA licensing isn't exclusive, so feasibly another studio could come in to create competition, but it won't happen.

Unlike American football and baseball, NBA does not have an exclusivity deal with 2K, last I heard. It's just that their competitors always made worse games, and 2K was all that survived. There isn't even an off-brand basketball game to turn to without the NBA license. If you want video game basketball, this is basically all there is.

This is how it was done 30 years ago, and I think they found that continuing to do it this way makes more money.

Probably the best way forward for someone to try to compete and usurp this series, which would be a tough road even with 2K continuing to shit the bed, would be to make an easily and highly moddable game that gets the sport's gameplay right from the get-go, so that players can implement their custom teams the way they want without being raked over the coals for the NBA license. There are a handful of American football games out there seeking to do that, but they've hardly made a splash compared to the (lately very poorly received) Madden titles, so a game like this would rely on enthusiasts and word of mouth.