I think they just didn't have some choices, virtually all of the character construction stuff and work is done by you as a player since they don't provide you any tools for it in-game. I feel a middle ground is mt nba 2k21 the right call here and even though it's a dreadful match, 2K could learn from the latest Madden. Condense the season down into essential matches, playing the full 82 is a very tough ask for a whole lot of individuals.
The GM comes and asks you if you need a Star WR or a Star RB added into the group, then the game has you basically befriend that guy to make a super team. And I think the most significant thing is the wack ancient match narrative, all the NFL stuff is optional. It's possible to switch to a routine MyCareer type mode at any time and perform the entire season. Or you may perform the condensed stuff that gives you the highlights of a career. When I'm playing 2K I do not wanna play Game 32 against the Wizards like I don't wanna watch that match in real life.
That I believe that you can usually skip it, but then you miss out on whatever bonuses you would get from these easy pre-season games, which is dumb. I could see there being a value in a story which truly adapts and evolves to the situations you've done over the course of a profession in a meaningful manner.
Like, even if you can't win a tournament, the stories start to become about how you don't have it in you to win and questions start to become about that with some impact on your clutchness and the game remembers your replies and may try and throw them at you in a subsequent press conference. In reality, they are highly scripted and often horribly written and continue for that short enough time period that you wonder why they added anything in any way. Then, you receive the generic shit they fit for the remainder of your career that you may as well skip since none of it matters or modifications at all.
I don't mind if one player campaign is mostly on rails if it's a fantastic narrative, but I dig your ideas and would dig an immersive buy nba 2k21 mt coins campaign like that. I am just tired of how half assed things get right following their scripted stories run out in almost every career focused manner like that. I know I ask for a lot together with the level of immersion that I describe but it'd make for more entertainment beyond just balling.