Defensive control sums up the role of the Lockdown in NBA 2K24. You won’t be the one dribbling across the court, you won’t be the one making the baskets. However, behind each basket that makes the hall of fame, behind each opportunity to freely move and dribble, behind the team’s momentum and smooth flow, is the painstaking labor of the Lockdown, creating opportunities for the team and cleaning up the mess when the opponent capitalizes on a moment of weakness.
This guide for an NBA 2K24 Lockdown build for the current-gen version of the game will aid you in creating the best defensive backbone for your team.
Body settings and attributes for NBA 2K24 Lockdown build
We went with the Small Forward position for our current/next-gen Lockdown build. For the sake of this build, it would be best to go for animations of the best Small Forwards for the position, Jimmy Butler. As for the recommended attribute point allocation for current/next-gen Lockdown, consult the table below:
| Height | 6’8″ |
| Weight | 199 lbs |
| Wingspan | 7’6″ |
| Close Shot | 50 |
| Driving Layup | 70 |
| Driving Dunk | 89 |
| Standing Dunk | 38 |
| Post Control | – |
| Mid-Range Shot | 63 |
| Three-Point Shot | 78 |
| Free Throw | 57 |
| Pass Accuracy | 77 |
| Ball Handle | 51 |
| Speed with Ball | 33 |
| Interior Defense | 86 |
| Perimeter Defense | 94 |
| Steal | 91 |
| Block | 94 |
| Offensive Rebound | 26 |
| Defensive Rebound | 60 |
| Speed | 83 |
| Acceleration | 77 |
| Strength | 74 |
| Vertical | 83 |
| Stamina | 99 |
Best Badges for next-gen/current-gen Lockdown Build in NBA 2K24
Badges are essential upgrades that greatly improve your character’s capabilities. Investing in appropriate attribute points is the key to unlocking new badges and by extension, badge upgrades.
Keeping our stat distribution for this NBA 2K24 next-gen / current-gen Lockdown build in mind, here is a breakdown of some of the badges to keep an eye on.
Tier S
Chase Down Artist (Hall of Fame): Increases your chance of getting a chase down block when tailing attackers breaking through the perimeter.
Bulldozer (Bronze): Improves your strength while ball handling to overpower defenders and stay in control of the ball.
Catch and Shoot (Silver): Immediately after a catch, boosts your chances of hitting a jump shot. Catch and Shoot shooting badge is good for team momentum and quickly getting the ball to the playmakers of the game.
Break Starter (Silver): Improves your ability to make outlet passes after grabbing rebounds.
Clamps (Gold): The defensive badge Clamps improves your ball-stealing capabilities by increasing your success rate when bumping into or hip-riding the ball handler.
Glove (Gold): Improves your ability to steal the ball from Ball handlers.
Interceptor (Gold): Improves your chance at stealing in passing lanes.
Posterizer (Silver): Increases your chances of posterizing attackers with a well-timed block.
Tier A
Challenger (Hall of Fame): This improves the potency of perfect contests performed against perimeter shooters, improving team defense.
Fast Feet (Gold): Improves your speed to shadow the ball handler effectively.
Corner Specialist (Silver): Boosts shots that are taken from the corner, great for getting the ball away from your perimeter.
Green Machine (Silver): Widens the Green Window on consecutive excellent releases, making your shots more accurate with more margin for error.
Needle Threader (Silver): Improves your chances to get tough passes through opposing defenders, giving your offense critical opportunities to break into the paint.
Speed Booster (Base): Coupled with your Fast Feet Badge, this will give you great speed burst capabilities to steal the ball during a critical moment.
Ankle Braces (Hall of Fame): Reduces the chance of you getting crossed over.
Anchor (Gold): Noticeably boosts your defensive capabilities within the paint.
Tier B
Immovable Enforcer (Bronze): Improves your strength while on defense to deny opposing ball handlers and finishers.
Open Looks (Silver): Improves your ability to make wide open jump shots, getting the ball around more smoothly in the court.
Claymore (Silver): Improves your ability to knock down perimeter shots after spotting.
Work Horse (Hall of Fame): This improves your ability to get Loose balls over the opponent.
94 Feet (Hall of Fame): This allows you to harass ball handlers in the backcourt.
How to Setup NBA 2K24 Lockdown build
As a current-gen console Lockdown player, your main goal is to take control of the ball whenever the opponent ends up in your crosshairs or in the paint and pass it along to your teammates as quickly as you can.
Breaking through to the enemy basket isn’t your job, being the safety net that keeps morale up is. Whether it’s by denying points, getting control of the ball back, and passing it along to the offense even through the toughest of enemy defense, it’s all on you.
The Lockdown player needs to be working non-stop within the perimeter like an iron-clad wall, bolstering team resolve and demoralizing opponents. This specific NBA 2K24 Lockdown build for Small Forwards is centered around stealing the ball from offense as quickly as possible, while also having the defensive capabilities to contest all manner of shots to defend the basket.
Beyond that, you’re expected to keep momentum going with accurate passes and shots, so various skills like corner specialist, needle threader etc are great to improve your ability to pass the ball along to teammates who have breached the perimeter, setting up frequent scoring opportunities.
