When it comes to basketball, nothing gets fans out of their seats like a slam dunk. In NBA 2K23, there is almost nothing more satisfying than finishing at the rim. Opponents try to stop this shot from happening, so when it does, the good vibes afterward are well deserved.
The other team, as mentioned, will do everything they can to prevent this. They'd rather allow an uncontested three-point bomb than a high-percentage shot with no defender. With the right finishing badges in NBA 2K23, even elite interior defenders are largely powerless against a good drive.
Best Badges For Bigs
Backdown Punisher
- Allows players to have more success than normal when backing down a defender while posting up.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 87 Post Control or 94 Strength
Everybody knows how bigs prefer to score; right up against the rim. No amount of Dr. Disrespect cosmetics can make up for taking weak shots from far away. To move right against the rim, max out Backdown Punisher and watch as even the strongest opponents allow standing dunks when getting in close.
Bully
- Improves a player's ability to initiate contact and get to the rim on layup attempts.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 95 Strength
While dunkers from the outside will get a few clean shots off when they are making use of their elite shooting badges, bigs will need to fight through contact on about every shot they take. Bully, as a result, gives them better odds of making likely every attempt they take for an entire game.
Masher
- Improves a player's ability to finish well around the rim, especially over smaller defenders.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 95 Close Shot
As a big, most players who will try to defend against the player will be shorter. Masher makes mincemeat of their feeble attempts as the big will finish around them with ease. This badge is great because it enables bigs in the early game to make the majority of their shots, even with pitiful attributes.
Best Badges For Slashers
Acrobat
- Spin, half-spin, hop step, euro-step, cradle, reverse, and change shot layup attempts receive a significant boost. Additionally, the ability to beat defenders with these gathers is improved.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 94 Driving Layup
Whether playing on the main stage or in the new and improved city, layups will constitute most of the scoring for successful teams. Those who get in close will occasionally get a big dunk, but more often than not find themselves settling for a clean layup. Any boost to this style can be treated as a direct increase in scoring.
Fearless Finisher
- Strengthens a player's ability to absorb contact and still finish. Also reduces the amount of energy lost from contact layups.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 93 Close Shot or 96 Driving Layup
The reason layups happen more than dunks is because a defender will get in the way to stop an easy shot from being made. Those who want to be a special edition cover athlete can't simply count on dunking their way to the top. They'll need to improve these contact layups to get any amount of points worth mentioning.
Giant Slayer
- Boosts the shot percentage for a layup attempt when mismatched against a taller defender and reduces the possibility of getting blocked.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 77 Close Shot or 80 Driving Layup
Slashers are mostly guards who drive inside. It goes without saying that the forwards and guards who defend the interior are going to be larger by more than a small margin. Getting blocked and missing shots is a common result for this tactic, so all slashers should have at least one badge point in Giant Slayer to resolve this issue.
Slithery
- Increases a player's ability to slide through traffic, protect the ball from being stolen, and avoid contact during gathers and finishes at the rim.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 99 Driving Layup or 98 Driving Dunk
Three benefits in a single badge are already great value and any one of these bonuses would make the pick worthy of the list. Blowing by defenders is obviously critical for slashers against speedy guards. Protecting the ball during these drives is wise since so many strip animations were added last year. And avoiding contact makes for clean layups, possibly even turning them into dunks.
Best Badges For Post Players
Dream Shake
- Post move fakes have a higher chance of stunning a defender. Also, shot attempts following post fakes, shimmies, and shot fakes have an increased shot percentage.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 86 Post Control
Last year, post scoring took dramatic leaps forward to catch up and surpass other methods of betting the ball in the basket. Those who watched the trailer for the game saw some post moves in action once again. Faking shots completely deletes competitors who buy the fake, giving players an open view of the basket.
Dropstepper
- Allows for more success when attempting post dropsteps and hop steps, in addition to protecting the ball better, while performing these moves in the post.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 87 Post Control
Players that can't shoot well in the post can get predictable They will either use raw strength to get closer to the rim or attempt a spin move. Opening up the possibility of dropping back and taking a shot might seem like a "shooting" badge, but here it is in the finishing badges section, the perfect spot for post scorers.
Post Spin Technician
- Attempting to do post spins or drives results in more effective spin moves and less of a chance to be stripped.
- Requirements for Hall of Fame: 80 Post Control
"More effective" can be a nebulous phrase as it doesn't say exactly how. To be more specific, the Post Spin Technician badge will speed up the animations of players who try to spin out of a post and toward the rim. That's perfect against an out-of-position defender or slower interior protector. The result, especially after a fake, is a shot close to 100% in terms of accuracy.
NBA 2K23 is available now for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.