BA Live 07 is like the late-era Michael Jordan of hoops games. The occasional game reminds us of the glory years, but the franchise can’t make the crowd cheer like it used to.

EA continues to ignore the basic flaws in gameplay to focus on circus sideshows like the NBA All-Star Weekend mode. Once again the player AI is stuck in Forrest Gump mode, as CPU-controlled players spend their minutes shooting at the back of the backboard, watching instead of playing defense, and running with the ball out of bounds.

The deep Dynasty mode is the only feature worth the price of admission. The day-to-day tasks are organized better than NBA 2K7’s Association mode, and new features like the NBA rumors and managing assistants give sports fans a greater sense of control.