NBA 2K11 is a basketball simulation game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports, released in 2010. Headlined by Michael Jordan and featuring the most faithful recreation of basketball yet committed to software, it is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the long-running series and one of the greatest sports games ever made.
NBA 2K11 was developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports, releasing in October 2010 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, and PSP. Its headline feature was the inclusion of Michael Jordan — his first appearance in a basketball game since NBA 2K3 — along with ten of his greatest Chicago Bulls teams, fully playable in a dedicated Jordan Challenge mode.
The Jordan Challenge tasked players with recreating ten iconic moments from Jordan's career: the 1986 playoff game where he scored 63 points against the Celtics, the 1992 Finals against Portland, the 1998 championship game against Utah. Each scenario had specific win conditions and a custom presentation layer — era-appropriate broadcast graphics, grainy filters, and period commentary — that made it feel less like a game mode and more like interactive sports history.
Beyond the Jordan content, NBA 2K11 represented a generational leap in basketball simulation. Player movement felt physical and weighty; post play, off-ball screens, and defensive rotations reflected real NBA strategy. The "My Player" career mode allowed players to develop a custom player from undrafted rookie to franchise cornerstone, a format that has since become standard across sports games.
NBA 2K11 is ranked #33 on Rolling Stone's 2025 list of the 50 Greatest Video Games of All Time. It earned near-universal critical acclaim and is consistently cited, alongside Tecmo Super Bowl and NFL 2K5, as one of the defining sports games of any generation. The Michael Jordan licence it secured remains a benchmark moment in sports game licensing history.