Michael Jordan is one of the most well-known names in the world. Whether or not you are into sports, chances are that you already know who MJ is.
You will be glad to know that you can make the best replica build of MJ in NBA 2K23. Keep reading if you want to build Michael Jordon in the new NBA 2K game.
How to make a Michael Jordan build in NBA 2K23
The build will try to mimic the stats and abilities of Michael Jordan from his glory days in the NBA as closely as possible. Following are all the attributes you need for this build.
| Height | 6’6” |
| Weight | 195 lbs |
| Wingspan | 6’11” |
| Close Shot | 80 |
| Driving Layup | 80 |
| Driving Dunk | 90 |
| Standing Dunk | 40 |
| Post Control | 67 |
| Mid-Range Shot | 90 |
| Three-Point Shot | 80 |
| Free Throw | 70 |
| Pass Accuracy | 80 |
| Ball Handle | 81 |
| Speed with Ball | 80 |
| Interior defense | 35 |
| Perimeter Defense | 85 |
| Steal | 80 |
| Block | 70 |
| Offensive Rebound | 25 |
| Defensive Rebound | 50 |
| Speed | 80 |
| Acceleration | 80 |
| Strength | 60 |
| Vertical | 80 |
| Stamina | 85 |
Takeovers
Takeovers are the primary and secondary abilities that you gain as the match heats up. You can pick any type of takeover for your build, but the following two are the recommended ones:
- Finishing Moves: Able to absorb and finish through contact on layups, dunks and alley-oops.
- Pull-Up Precision: Provides a boost to well-timed jump shots taken off the dribble.
If you don’t know what to do with the takeovers, then we have a separate guide explaining how to activate takeovers in NBA 2K23 which you can look at.
How to set up the Michael Jordan build
Michael Jordan’s build is viable for both the Current Gen and Next Gen characters in NBA 2K23. The build aims to mimic the characteristics of the hall of famer, MJ in NBA 2K23.
The build is perfectly balanced with a 99 overall. The built will get you a 2-Way Slashing Combo Guard player, which is what we aimed for since that is Michael Jordan’s archetype. This makes the character a mid-range shooter, with defense and excellent ball handling.
We have chosen not to max out every attribute for this build, instead opted for a much more balanced approach. Without a maxed-out build, players will require skill, which makes reliving Michael Jordan’s best moments even sweeter.
With the above attributes, most of the badges your will get are gold. Nothing too crazy, and it allows us to easily stack the bronze and silver badges to get additional gold badges that we might need later when new updates and tweaks come to the game.
In finishers, all the moves are kept high enough except standing dunk, since the move is complimented by Vertical Physical Attribute. We allotted 60 points in Post Control so we can at least get the silver badge in Postman Technician.
For Mid-Range, we had 90, because that is the maximum the game allows you to put in. If we had the option to increase points in this attribute, we would have gone for 99 points in the Mid-Range shot to reflect how good MJ really was in mid-range shooting.
We’ve done the same for free throws. We all know that Michael Jordan was one of the best free throw shooters out there.
We have 80 on Accuracy and 81 on ball handling, allowing us a gold badge in First Quick Step.
Interior defense is kept at the lowest because as a 6‘6” players, Interior Defense won’t be as much of a problem as your Perimeter Defense. We also allotted a lot of points in Steal. With the ball, and 80 points in Speed with ball attribute, you can always make sure you get the ball from one end of the courtyard to the other.
Best badges for Michael Jordan build
For Michael Jordan’s 99 overall current-gen and next-gen build, we had different choices of badges, but we decided to go with only the best badges that best capture the true image of the Hall of Fame superstar.
As for the next-gen variation, do remember that there’s a slightly different way that the badge system works. The way the all-new, better next-gen badge system works is that you need to select a certain number of lower-tier badges first to actually go ahead and select the higher-tier badges progressively.
Your defense is really strong because of the 6’6” height. With all the points allocated to the steal attribute, you can also use your strong defense to make best dunk build in nba 2k23.
Keeping this in mind, you might have to compensate for the badges a bit in the next-gen variation of NBA 2K23.
Finishing Badges
Dream Shake – Hall of Fame
Fake moves have a much higher chance of baiting your opponent. Any shot that follows a fake move has a higher chance also.
Fearless Finisher – Hall of Fame
Fearless Finisher will help you convert your contact layups and drastically improve your character’s finishing abilities. You also use less stamina for any contact finisher.
Giant Slayer – Hall of Fame
With Giant Slayer, your MJ will have a much easier time going against tall defenders in NBA 2K23. However, you can still be taken surprised by the opposing defender’s best pull-up.
Slithery – Hall of Fame
Increases your success chances when moving through a high-traffic area to move through without contact or losing the ball.
Shooting Badges
Corner Specialist – Hall of Fame
With this badge, your chances of hitting a jump shot after catching a pass or after a rebound improve when you are at the corner, allowing for a more dynamic flow for your build.
Clutch Shooter – Hall of Fame
Any shot that is attempted in the final moments of the 4th quarter receives a boost and has higher chance of success.
Limitless Range – Hall of Fame
Using Limitless Range will increase your shot range drastically for both current-gen and next-gen alike.
Space Creator – Hall of Fame
Increases your success rate of creating space among defenders with back-steps, and any shots that are taken after creating space also have a higher chance of success.
Volume Shooter – Silver
Volume Shooter will increase your chances of a successful attempt, as you take more shots in the match. The more shots you have taken, the better the chances of you hitting a perfect shot.
Playmaking Badges
Handles For Days – Gold
Handles For Days allow you to reduce your overall stamina consumption for dribbling in NBA 2K23. This is the most important badge, as it is required to properly function many other badges we recommend for your Michael Jordan build on current-gen and next-gen.
Quick First Step – Gold
Quick First Step allows you to bypass almost any defender that’s standing between you and the basket.
Ankle Breaker – Gold
When you perform any backstep, your opponent will have a much higher chance of falling back or stumbling or even moving the wrong way in his attempt to stop you.
Killer Combos– Gold
Increases your character’s ability to chain together different combos without too much stamina consumption and efficient dribbling when sizing up to an opponent.
Defense Badges
Clamps – Gold
This badge grants you access to faster cut-off moves and a higher success rate when bumping into the defender.
Interceptor – Gold
You have a much higher chance of intercepting opponent passes when defending.
Best animations for Michael Jordan build
As you know, animations for your different moves can make all the difference in your performance, and the success rate of any shot or attempt that you make.
Therefore, we need to get the best animations set up for our Michael Jordan build in NBA 2K23 for both current-gen and next-gen to make sure that the build gets the deserved efficiency in any match.
Jumpshot
- Lower Base – Kobe Bryant
- Upper Release 1 – Oscar Robertson (100% Animation Blending)
- Upper Release 2 – None
Dribble – Michael Jordan
Signature Size-Up – Paul George
Size-Up Escape Package – LeBron James
Moving Crossovers – James Harden
Moving Behind Backs – Zach LaVine
Moving Spins – Basic
Moving Hesitations – Luka Doncic
Moving Stepback – Luka Doncic
Two Foot Moving Dunk – Jordan Kilganon
One Foot Moving Dunk – Under Leg Off One
Standing Dunk – Two hands under Basket Athletic
Alley-Oops – Zion Williamson Alley-Oop
Next-Gen Michael Jordan replica build stats
There are also some secrets to discover in NBA 2k23. The game features secret replica builds you can create for the major basketball legends like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, etc.
The way this works is if you select certain stats for your character in MyPlayer and it matches the stat criteria of a particular replica, you’ll unlock a nickname for yourself, which, for MJ is “His Airness”.
To unlock the Michael Jordan Special Replica, select the following stats. Note that you will know how to change jersey numbers to complete the replica build.
| Position | Shooting Guard |
|---|---|
| Handedness | Right |
| Jersey Number | 23 |
| Height | 6’6” |
| Weight | 195 lbs |
| Wingspan | 6’11” |
| Boy Shape | Solid |
| Close Shot | 84 |
| Driving Layup | 90 |
| Driving Dunk | 90 |
| Standing Dunk | 68 |
| Post Control | 60 |
| Mid-Range Shot | 71 |
| Three-Point Shot | 60 |
| Free Throw | 81 |
| Pass Accuracy | 71 |
| Ball Handle | 80 |
| Speed with Ball | 78 |
| Interior defense | 61 |
| Perimeter Defense | 82 |
| Steal | 84 |
| Block | 59 |
| Offensive Rebound | 52 |
| Defensive Rebound | 51 |
| Speed | 85 |
| Acceleration | 85 |
| Strength | 54 |
| Vertical | 90 |
| Stamina | 93 |
These stats will leave you with an overall rating of 99. In many players’ opinions, these stats might not match the actual real-life abilities of MJ himself, but these are just the standard predetermined stats you need to pick to unlock the replica as part of the game.
As for the takeovers, it would be best to select the Finishing Moves takeover as the primary one and the Extreme Clamps as the secondary one.
Once you do that, your overall player build would be complete, and you’ll be prompted with a screen that you have unlocked the “His Airness” Replica.
