NBA The Run Review – Fun, But No Slam Dunk

In This NBA The Run Review, we take a look at Play By Play Studios’ 3v3 streetball basketball game. Led by some of the original developers of the classic NBA Street Games, The Run seeks to bring that streetball experience back with a modern twist. But is the game worth your time and money? Let’s find out.

NBA The Run Review – What Is NBA The Run?

The game's about to change!

Introducing NBA THE RUN, a brand new fast-paced, arcade 3v3 street basketball game featuring NBA stars, iconic courts and endless highlights!

Coming in 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam on PC. Wishlist Now: https://t.co/SbVsbbpBni pic.twitter.com/h6Kb1Sqypf

— NBA THE RUN (@NBATHERUN) October 29, 2025

NBA The Run is a 3v3 street arcade-style basketball video game developed and published by Play By Play Studios. While not directly connected to EA Sports’ NBA Street series, the game was developed and created by some of the former developers of the classic series.

The game was originally revealed as The Run: Got NXT, a similar-style game featuring fictional characters, all with their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. However, the development team was able to secure a licensing deal with the NBA and NBPA, allowing them to incorporate over 30 real league players into the game. But some of the original characters from Got NXT did get to return like Destiny Jackson, El Gigante, and Spin Cycle.

The game is currently available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

NBA The Run Review – Gameplay

NBA The Run is an online 3v3 street-ball basketball game. Furthermore, it features real NBA players, as well as a few fictional characters and one Bobbito Garcia. For those who don’t know, Garcia was the announcer for the old NBA Street games, making his addition a welcome one.

Each character has their own stats and abilities, making each one feel unique. Steph Curry is obviously good at shooting 3s while Victor Wembanyama and Kawhi Leonard excel on defense. Some characters even have rookie variants, each with their own unique stats.

Overall, there are over 40 characters in the game if you include the fictional characters, rookie variants, and Garcia. It’s a pretty decent sized roster that allows for tons of unique combinations. Obviously, it’s not as big as NBA Street Vol 2’s roster, but you have to keep in mind that Play By Play Studios is an indie developer.

Furthermore, I applaud the developer for incorporating real NBA players in pretty short time. The game was originally not even supposed to include these stars. So props to PBP for that, because creating, developing, and balancing characters isn’t easy.

Regardless of which character you choose, each one has a zone ability. Throughout a match, you build momentum as you charge up your ability. Once it’s ready, you can use that ability to your advantage. Shen Tong, a fictional Street Legend, boasts a zone ability that improves his passing as well as his teammates’ shot success.

If you’re still unsure of what character to pick, the game offers a shootaround, or “practice” mode where you can test each and every player out. It’s a good way to get used to the gameplay, as well as each player’s speed, strengths, and weaknesses.

Before jumping into a game, you can customize your trio of players on the main menu. Want to use Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, and Bobbito Garcia?  Feel free to do so. There are virtually no restrictions when creating your lineup. But what modes can you dive into with these characters?

The structure of the game is very simple and easy to jump into. When you play, you have the choice of three modes: Knockout Squads, Knockout Solos, and Knockout Friends. All of these modes are tournament modes, with each play-through considered a RUN. It’s all about how far you can go in the tournament to maximize your earnings and accomplishments.

Knockout Squads matches you up with two other users as you control just one player on the court. Solos, on the other hand, lets you control all three players from your lineup. Lastly, Knockout Friends is a private mode where you can host tournaments with friends.

Each match in the tournament follows different rules pre-selected before the match begins. Things like point values, points needed to win, and other things may change based on the modifiers. This keeps things fresh as you don’t know what to expect.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of NBA The Run is the smooth controls. Shooting, passing, and player movement all feel great. And as an arcade game, you can utilize moves and abilities not present in simulation sports titles.

It does take some time to get used to, though. Things like shot timing, performing trick moves, alley-oops, and protecting the ball from defenders does require some skill. And while everything is going on, you need to keep track of your stamina (visible below the player).

You can’t just waltz into a game and use all these crazy moves and sprint like there’s no tomorrow. You need to manage your stamina, know when to use the right moves, and sometimes just hope that you’re able to trick the defender. So while the gameplay loop is simple to get into, it does take time to master.

The controls feel pretty expansive, too. There’s four types of advanced dunks, four types of ankle breakers, and multiple different ways to pass. On defense, you can contain the opposing team by blocking, guarding, stealing, and more. Furthermore, there’s even an enhanced version of guarding and blocking, giving you more ways to catch offenses off-guard.

The actual tournament structure of the gameplay is pretty fun too. It’s a great feeling to see your team go farther into the knockout rounds. Even if you don’t win, you can feel pretty satisfied with a good run.

At the end of each run, you earn some XP towards ranking up, and CRED. The latter is your currency that you can use to unlock some more characters, taunts, badges, and much more. Meanwhile, you earn XP to rank up, with up to 50 rewards full of ranks to earn. This is where you unlock more characters, like El Gigante or Spin Cycle.

That’s because, at its best, NBA The Run just plays well. Everything from shooting, rebounding, stealing, diving, guarding, and blocking all feel good. And because it offers an arcade-style experience, the game isn’t held back by more realistic limitations you see in simulation sports games.

So in terms of the pros, NBA The Run offers a solid roster size, tight controls, and an overall smooth gameplay experience. But unfortunately, there are some things I need to address.

The biggest problems with NBA The Run are that:

• It’s an online only game
• There’s no option for local play
• The gameplay cycle becomes repetitive

That means that in order to play The Run, you need to have an internet connection. Is your internet down but you still want to play a game? Well unfortunately, you won’t be able to play the game you paid for. Want to play a quick 3v3 with a friend on the same couch? I’m afraid you can’t do that either.

A lot of the charm in the original NBA Street games was that it was fun to play with friends. You’d invite some friends over, eat a pizza, watch a movie, and play a classic video game like NBA or NFL Street. Sadly, that experience isn’t really possible with The Run, at least not like it used to be.

It seems like a major oversight not to include an offline mode as well as local play to a game that is an obvious spiritual successor to NBA Street. It should almost be mandatory for sports games to include some form of local play.

Another issue which is indirectly caused by the online-only restriction is that gameplay tends to become repetitive. You’re just playing tournaments over and over again with nothing else to do. I understand that it’s called The Run for a reason, but what if you just wanted to play a pick-up game?

And unless you play with a dedicated group of friends, you’re at the mercy of the game’s matchmaking system. So you can either find yourself with like-minded teammates, or a Kevin Durant who always spams 3s and never passes the ball. Jokes aside, playing with randoms is fine (for the most part), but most people I played with weren’t using a mic, which can make everything feel a bit lifeless.

That last part is more of a nitpick, and there are things that NBA The Run does well to compensate. As I mentioned earlier, I appreciate the gameplay, controls, and roster. There’s a lot of variety in how you can build your team, and it can be satisfying to go on a good run.

Play By Play Studios also intends to add more content post-launch. So some of my criticisms may be resolved in future updates. But at launch, NBA The Run has a few issues for me that keep it from offering a great gameplay experience.

Graphics  – NBA The Run Review

NBA The Run uses a cel-shaded art style somewhat reminiscent of NBA Street Vol. 2. Like its gameplay, The RUN’s visuals don’t focus on realistic graphics, but rather a more comic, cartoon style that fits with its arcade-like experience.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of cel-shaded art styles. The style used on the characters doesn’t really fit too well with the more realistic-looking courts and backgrounds.

However, the character models do look good. Each NBA Player looks a lot like their real-life counterpart, and there’s a lot of detail and variation between different versions of characters. For example, you can definitely tell the difference between Steph Curry and his rookie-season counterpart. So they did a good job creating accurate player models.

Furthermore, the courts themselves do look colorful, with vibrant backgrounds featuring tons of things to look at. I like to see what’s happening behind the court on each map, as there’s a little something interesting with each one.

And I do like the colorful afterimage effect when trying to

Overall, while I may not like the cel-shaded player designs, NBA The Run does try to emulate a nostalgic feeling with its old-school look. And its supported by some cool looking courts. And graphics really don’t matter if the gameplay is fun, so I tend not to dawdle on these things too much.

Audio – NBA The Run Review

There’s not much to say about the Audio department for NBA The Run. The menu has one song, which changes when you head into another menu like the shop. It’s a decent song, and you probably won’t be on the menus long enough for it to bother you.

On the court, everything sounds fine. The sound effects all sound good and fit with the style of the game. It’s cool to see Garcia doing the announcer work again while also being able to play as him.

Verdict: Is NBA The Run Worth Your Time & Money?

Although it offers a fun gameplay experience, NBA The Run feels shallow due to the lack of modes, offline play, and no local play option. While I like the roster size and the courts, everything becomes a bit mundane after you run a few tournaments.

After playing about a dozen tournaments, I feel like I experienced everything this game had offer. Sure, some players boast different abilities, or stats, but every match felt the same. As an online-only game, the quality of the experience is dictated by those around you. And when you play with people who you don’t really communicate with you, it can feel boring.

At its best, NBA The Run offers smooth controls and a gameplay experience that can be fun. But the fundamental issues prevent this good game from being a great game.

Bottom line – buy this game if you’re a huge NBA fan who loves online 3v3 street basketball games. But if you were looking for something that actually plays more like the legendary NBA Street games, you may want to get comfortable in that waiting chair.

Score: 7/10

Editor’s Note: ClutchPoints received a review copy to allow us to cover this game. This copy did not, in any way, affect this NBA The Run Review.

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