Hey there basketball fan, let‘s talk about skipping the story in NBA 2K23 for next gen

I know you‘re excited to dive into NBA 2K23 and lead your MyPlayer to stardom. You‘ve likely heard about the new MyCareer story mode "The City" exclusive to next gen consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

But maybe you don‘t care much for cutscenes and dialogues. You just want to get on the court and ball out. So you‘re wondering:

Can you skip the story in NBA 2K23 for next gen consoles?

It‘s a bit complicated. As a long-time NBA 2K gamer and data analyst, let me walk you through what I‘ve learned about bypassing the story as much as possible.

The lowdown on NBA 2K23‘s new MyCareer story

In the past few 2K games, the MyCareer story revolved around building connections in the NBA as a rookie, securing endorsements, and navigating team politics.

This year they‘ve refreshed it with a new setting and plot:

• You start as a promising prospect trying to make it out of high school
• Get recruited to college basketball and compete in the NCAA (new)
• Undrafted after college, you must rebuild your reputation on streetball circuits (new)
• Explore an open world "The City" hub and complete missions
• Eventually sign with an NBA team and work your way up from benchwarmer

It aims to deliver a more immersive narrative arc for your player‘s career. However, many fans just want to ball without distractions:

"Is there a way to skip the story and MyCareer dialogues this year? I just wanna hoop."

"Does 2K force you to go through the full story before unlocking the NBA portion? I‘m hoping we can bypass it and get drafted quick."

"I already went through the story with one build. Now I want to make a new player but don‘t want to sit through those long cutscenes again."

These concerns are valid. You invest hours building your perfect MyPlayer only to be forced into lengthy dialogue scenes.

Unfortunately, based on my experience and analysis, you cannot completely skip the 2K23 MyCareer story. But there are ways to minimize and streamline it.

Mash through those repetitive cutscenes

The MyCareer story features tons of cutscenes full of cringey dialogue. Your player hangs with their best friend, argues with the girlfriend, gets pep talks from mentors…you‘ve seen it all before.

The first time you trigger a cutscene, you‘re forced to watch the full thing. But after that initial viewing:

• You can tap X / A to skip through dialogue lines faster. Mash away!
• Press and hold Circle / B during a cutscene to completely skip it once permitted.

This lessens the pain of replaying story chapters on new save files. Skip or button mash!

However, some pivotal cutscenes remain unskippable even on repeated playthroughs. Like when you get that heartfelt pep talk from your coach. The game wants to make sure you see the key story beats.

Decline pointless side quests

As you explore The City, various NPCs will offer side missions unrelated to the core story arc.

You can safely decline or ignore these side quests to stay focused on main tasks. No need to waste time collecting ramen noodles for the quirky shopkeeper!

Prioritize story chapters and mandatory events that unlock new areas or features. Side quests won‘t disappear if you save them for later.

Strategically upgrade your MyPlayer

Earning rewards to upgrade your MyPlayer is a key part of the story‘s progression system.

Be smart about how you apply upgrades and VC earnings to speed things along:

• As soon as possible, upgrade physical traits like speed, vertical, stamina. This will help you dominate streetball matches quicker.

• Initially focus on key archetype attributes like shooting or defense. Specialized builds progress faster.

• Equip boosted streetball perks like additional VC earnings or team chemistry.

• Save some VC for later too. Once you unlock signature skills and core badges, you‘ll need VC to upgrade them.

Follow these tips to hit story benchmarks faster and move through the narrative quicker.

The City overview – districts and unlock progression

Once you finish the high school and college chapters, you will enter The City – the open world hub for streetball and missions.

The City features various districts and courts you‘ll unlock as you progress:

- South City (starting area)

- East Side Courts 

- West Side Courts

- North Side City

- South Side Vipers Arena (final streetball tournament)

Completing the story in each district will open up the next one. You can‘t access the entire map right away.

But once all districts are unlocked after your player regains their reputation, you‘re free to roam and take on objectives in any order.

Unlock The City free roam ASAP

After your player signs with an NBA team, The City shifts into free roam mode. No more scripted events or forced progression.

At this point you can mostly ignore the story. Just have fun with streetball, shops, minigames or whatever you want.

To unlock free roam as fast as possible:

• Speed through high school and college chapters
• Dominate the core streetball circuits to impress the scouts
• Decline side missions unrelated to the main chapters
• Win the streetball tournament in South Side Vipers Arena
• Sign an NBA contract and get drafted

Once free roam is unlocked, the world is your oyster! Explore at your own pace.

Simulating the calendar is your friend

After finally reaching the NBA, you can use the Simulate to Next Appearance feature to skip days or weeks ahead in the schedule.

This lets you bypass annoying off-court activities and focus on NBA games:

• Sim past team practices, meetings, endorsements
• Skip apartment cutscenes or text conversations
• Advance to your next matchup and play in it

Some key points about simulating:

• Make sure to save first! Then simulate in 1-2 week chunks at a time.
• Keep an eye on your next upcoming game or major event before simulating.
• Try not to sim too far and miss important games or story checkpoints.

Simulating is super helpful for avoiding pointless time sinks between key games.

Tune the settings to minimize fluff

Once settled into the NBA season, tweak some settings to remove immersion-breaking elements:

• Turn off GM meetings, owner meetings and team chemistry meetings. Pointless!

• Reject sponsorships and disable related pop-up events. Just say no to shoe deals.

• Auto-skip substitution cutscenes and quarter breaks. Gets you back into the action faster.

• Disable pre-game interviews, post-game interviews and press conferences.

Tweak these settings to remove fluff and streamline the experience. Focus on NBA gameplay.

The verdict? No total skipping, but you can minimize the pain

So in summary friend, while you can‘t completely skip the MyCareer story mode in NBA 2K23 next gen, you can take steps to minimize and fast track it:

• Button mash through cutscenes once permitted
• Decline optional side content
• Upgrade wisely to hit benchmarks quicker
• Unlock The City free roam ASAP
• Simulate the calendar to avoid time sinks
• Turn off settings like meetings and interviews

With these tips, you can simplify and speedrun the story mode to focus on exciting NBA basketball action. The narrative context might help your immersion, but it‘s cool if you just want to hoop like a pro.

Hit me up if you have any other NBA 2K questions! Always happy to help a fellow baller out.

Your gaming bud,

Terry