NBA 2K23: Best Playmaking Badges to Up Your Game in MyCareer

Playmaking in NBA 2K isn’t limited to just passing. It’s a combination of setting up plays for your teammates and yourself. Some playmaking badges compliment finishing and shooting badges on offense. The need for it is what sets up the activation of these two offensive badges. 

Whether you’re building a point guard or any player, the need for these playmaking badges in 2K23 is necessary to take the next step. 

What are the best playmaking badges in NBA 2K23?  

Below, you’ll find the best playmaking badges to easily earn assists while playing in MyCareer. As playmaking badges, most give immediate boosts to your teammates rather than yourself, but that’s the point of playmaking, right?

1. Floor General 

Badge Requirements: Pass Accuracy – 68 (Bronze), 83 (Silver), 89 (Gold), 96 (Hall of Fame) 

Equipping the Floor General badge is pretty much basic when it comes to the best playmaking badges. It’s still one of the most important in 2K23. Floor General gives your teammates a boost to all offensive categories while you’re in the game. This will make an offensively-gifted team nearly unstoppable while helping to raise the offensive floor of other teams that struggle on offense.

The fact is that it’s still necessary for this badge to be your top priority. While it doesn’t generate points for you, it still gives a huge boost on your assist game as this badge instantly makes your teammates maximize their own badges from the passes you make. 

2. Handles For Days 

Badge Requirements: Ball Handle – 70 (Bronze), 85 (Silver), 94 (Gold), 99 (Hall of Fame)

You’ll be needing all the dribbling-related badges you need in the current 2K gen and Handles For Days is the most important. It enhances your dribbling skill beyond your Ball Handling attribute. As playmakers need to avoid turnovers, Handles For Days and a high Ball Handling attribute will make it very difficult to strip you of the ball. 

Specifically, the badge drains less stamina when performing dribble moves, allowing for more and longer chains. When paired with the next badge, you can easily create shots for yourself. Further, if a help defender breaks, you can make the easy pass to the open man for what should be an easy score.

Note that Handles For Days is a Tier 3 badge. This means that you must equip ten badge points between Tiers 1 and 2 in playmaking to unlock Tier 3.

3. Ankle Breaker 

Badge Requirements: Ball Handle – 55 (Bronze), 65 (Silver), 71 (Gold), 81 (Hall of Fame) 

Those who are fan of hesitation moves and stepbacks will love the Ankle Breaker badge. It takes great skill to master, though.  Ankle Breaker increases the frequency in which defenders will stumble or fall when you perform stepbacks and certain other moves. This is why it’s important to have both Ankle Breaker and Handles For Days paired together as it increases your chances of losing defenders and gaining open shots.

This badge helps a lot if you are faced with a better defender. Pulling off a chain of dribble moves can lead to your defender stumbling a bit, hence, giving you an opening to either drive to the basket or take a jump shot. If the defense collapses, do what playmakers do: find the open shooter.

4. Quick First Step 

Badge Requirements: Post Control – 80 (Bronze), 87 (Silver), 94 (Gold), 99 (Hall of Fame) OR
Ball Handle – 70 (Bronze), 77 (Silver), 85 (Gold), 89 (Hall of Fame) OR
Speed With Ball – 66 (Bronze), 76 (Silver), 84 (Gold), 88 (Hall of Fame) 

Just like the Ankle Breaker, the Quick First Step badge helps with beating your opponents off the dribble. It allows for a player to utilize its speed to get a head advantage when driving to the basket. Specifically, Quick First Step gives you access to quicker and more effective launches out of the triple threat or a size-up.

The Badge also allows for effective launches the same way the Dropstepper badge works for big men. This may be best utilized when paired on a mismatch against a slower defender. Blow right by them, drive to the basket, and either get an easy bucket or an easy assist when the defense collapses on you.

5. Special Delivery 

Badge Requirements: Pass Accuracy – 47 (Bronze), 57 (Silver), 67 (Gold), 77 (Hall of Fame) 

Alley-oops should be perfectly-timed. Even the best passers in NBA 2K still find a hard time connecting on those lob passes. Receivers sometimes intentionally do not hop despite being open for the lob, and the 2K AI has made post defenders more likely to intercept or swat the ball. 

That said, the Special Delivery badge helps with converting those lob passes into an easy two points. It increases the success of alley-oop passes and shot success after a flashy pass. There’s also the bonus animation of throwing passes off the backboard. If you’re teamed with an athletic big who can roll off picks and get up for the slam, then this is a great badge to have.

6. Dimer 

Badge Requirements: Pass Accuracy – 64 (Bronze), 69 (Silver), 80 (Gold), 85 (Hall of Fame) 

If the Special Delivery badge allows better conversion on lob passes, the Dimer badge is the one that increases the chance of conversions on regular passes. Specifically, Dimer gives a boost to shot percentage after passes in the half-court. This is one of the most essential badges to have if you’re style is based on assisting your teammates.

This badge is usually the partner of the Floor General badge as both have the main purpose of helping your teammates perform better. It also almost guarantees sure points on passes to an open teammate. A kickout pass to a three-point shooter should result in a score nine times out of ten, an easy way to make a comeback or increase a lead.  

7. Vice Grip 

Badge Requirements: Post Control – 45 (Bronze), 57 (Silver), 77 (Gold), 91 (Hall of Fame) OR
Ball Handle – 50 (Bronze), 60 (Silver), 75 (Gold), 90 (Hall of Fame) 

The Vice Grip badge is one of the most important playmaking badges in NBA 2K23. The current game meta renders the Unpluckable badge useless as hitting turbo can be met by an easy poke by even the worst defenders. Vice Grip increases ball security after gaining possession on a rebound, catch, or loose ball.

That said, the Vice Grip badge is more useful than Unpluckable, especially when you want to go into Hyperdrive all the time. It works better with ball security against steal attempts and is a natural pairing with Handles For Days and Ankle Breaker.

8. Hyperdrive 

Badge Requirements: Speed With Ball – 55 (Bronze), 67 (Silver), 80 (Gold), 90 (Hall of Rame) OR
Ball Handle – 59 (Bronze), 69 )Silver), 83 (Gold), 92 (Hall of Fame)

The Hyperdrive badge basically enhances your hold on the turbo button. It allows for better movement on the dribble when sprinting. 

The increase in speed that this badge gives is best paired with the ball security of the Vice Grip badge for more successful drives. A playmaker with Hyperdrive, Handles For Days, Vice Grip, and Quick First Step is going to be very difficult to defend, and will make you one of the most reliable ball handlers in the game.

What to expect when using playmaking badges in NBA 2K23 

Some might think playmaking badges aren’t that necessary as compared to offensive and defensive badges. The new badges in NBA 2K23 beg to differ. 

While it’s simple to just time your dribbles or pass to an open teammate for an easy assist, the enhancement and extra animations that these badges give are noticeable especially in MyCareer. 

Before you decide to ignore equipping these badges, try testing the difference first in practice games and scrimmages. Once you’ve seen how playmaking badges upgrade your ballhandling, you might start prioritizing them in NBA 2K23. 

Looking for the best team to play for?

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