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Tech

Spike Lee's 'NBA 2K16' Looks Like the Most Dramatic Basketball Game Ever Made

He Got Game: The Game.
Image: 2K

Game publisher 2K has released a new trailer for NBA 2K16 called "Living' Da Dream, A Spike Lee Joint"—and yes, that's Spike Lee, as in the celebrated movie director who made

Do the Right Thing

,

Malcolm X

, and many other films.

Usually, basketball game trailers aren't worth talking about, as they all follow the same formula of showing this year's improved graphics and animations, with 3D models of famous players passing and dunking while hip hop plays in the background.

Lee's "Living' Da Dream," not surprisingly, looks more like a trailer for a dramatic sports movie, which follows the story of Frequency Vibrations (yep), an up-and-coming NBA superstar who's struggling to manage fame, fortune, his family, and what looks like a very sleazy agent.

Of course, it's impossible not to look at this and be reminded of He Got Game, Lee's excellent 1998 movie about an up-and-coming NBA superstar who's struggling to manage fame, fortune, his family, and a sleazy agent.

Story modes in sports games can be a lot of fun, and Lee is obviously a talented director. But the trailer does seem a little ridiculous, and it's hard to believe a sports game can tell the kind of dramatic, dark story we saw in He Got Game.

According to 2K, Spike Lee is writing, directing, and producing the game's MyCareer mode, a kind of story mode you'll be able to create your own player and guide him through his NBA career. So no, his name doesn't have to be Frequency Vibrations when you play it.