The NBA 2K franchise has for years now been defined by My Career, and NBA 2K18 certainly continues the tradition.
Badges return in this year’s game, and still act a bit like bragging rights: you unlock badges by completing set tasks, and once they’re unlocked, they have hugely beneficial effects on your created player.
In this guide, we take you through each and every NBA 2K18 badge, and how to get them. Badges are defined by Personality and Skill, which, as you might expect, influence how your player responds and reacts in certain situations.
These badges are broken up into Bronze, Silver, Gold, Hall Of Fame and Grand Badges.
NOTE: We’ll update these with the newer badges shortly after release. If you would like to contribute to the article and have noticed that some badges are missing/incorrect, please post in the comments below! We’ll attribute your information and post in the article.
NBA 2K18 Badges
- Outside Scoring
- Inside Scoring
- Athleticism
- Playmaking
- Rebounding
- Defense
Badges are broken up across these categories, and can be upgraded to higher tiers once you earn the bronze tier.
Here’s the full list, and how you earn them.
Skill Badges | Personality Badges
Skill Badges
Inside Scorer | Outside Scorer | Playmaker | Athleticism | Rebounding | Defense
Acrobat
- Causes: Attempt difficult shot, change shot in air
- How To Get: In one season, do 15 reverse layups and 5 change-shot layups
Tear Dropper
- Causes: Improve floaters and runners
- How To Get: In one season, make 50 floaters
Putback King
- Causes: Improves offensive awareness around basketball after offensive rebound
- How To Get: Score multiple putbacks
Pick and Roller
- Causes: Improves offensive awareness of the roller during a pick-and-roll
- How To Get: Call for and execute 100 picks-and-rolls in a season
Relentless Finisher
- Causes: Physical hits on contact shot won’t impact energy as much
- How To Get: Attempt 75 contact layups and/or dunks
Post Spin Technician
- Causes: Dominate in the post
- How To Get: Spin or drive out of post 100 times in one season
Drop-Stepper
- Causes: Improves drop-step in the post
- How To Get: Execute 30 drop step moves
Dream-Like Up and Under
- Causes: Improve scoring in the post from up and under move
- How To Get: Attempt 50 up and under shots in a single season
Corner Specialist
- Causes: Improve 3pt shotting from corner
- How To Get: Hit 25 3pt shots in a single season
Mid-Range Deadeye
- Causes: Improves shooting percentage of shots at medium-range
- How To Get: Hit 150-200 shots from within the pain from the elbow when the shot is being contested
Deep Range Deadeye
- Causes: Improve deep range shot percentage
- How To Get: Hit 100 deep range shots while the shot is being contested
Limitless Range
- Causes: Improves deep three percentage
- How To Get: Hit 50 long range shots from before the hashmark
Difficult Shots
- Causes: Improves tough shots off dribble percentage
- How To Get: Hit 100-200 pull and hop shots that are contested
Pick & Popper
- Causes: Improves pick and pop receiving capacity
- How To Get: Score 200 times as the pick and pop man
Tireless Scorer
- Causes: Improves effectiveness when shooting even when energy is being spent in high capacity
- How To Get: Make 200 shot attempts while energy bar is blinking red
Catch & Shoot
- Causes: Improves percentage of stand-still shots off the catch
- How To Get: Make 100 scores in a single season from catching and shooting
Ankle Breaker
- Causes: Ankle break an opponent while executing dribbling moves
- How To Get: Land 200 “double move leading to a score” in a single season
Flashy Passer
- Causes: Improves passing to receivers
- How To Get: Execute 50 flashy passes in one season
Break Starter
- Causes: Execute accurate outlet passes after starting a fastbreak
- How To Get: Grab a defensive rebound and then throw a successful outlet pass to a teammate in transition 50 times in one season
Pick & Roll Maestro
- Causes: Improves accuracy of passes and shooting off screens when initiating a pick and roll
- How To Get: In one season, call for 150 screens
Lob City Passer
- Causes: Improves accuracy of alley-oop passes
- How To Get: Execute 50 alley-oops in a single season
Dimer
- Causes: Player becomes an elite passer and is more likely to hit a player in the right position to score
- How To Get: Dish out 300 assists in a single season
Lob City Finisher
- Causes: Slams home an alley-oop with more accuracy
- How To Get: Make 15 successful lobs, layups or dunks in a single season
Posterizer
- Causes: Dunk at a higher rate with more accuracy over defenders
- How To Get: Make 15 contact dunks in a single season
Bruiser
- Causes: Your player’s physicality will drain the direct opponent’s energy
- How To Get: N/A
Brick Wall
- Causes: More likely to set an effective screen
- How To Get: Execute 100 screens in a single season
One Man Fast Break
- Causes: You are more efficient, faster and offensively aware on the fast break
- How To Get: During a single season, score 100 times on a fast break
Hustle Rebounder
- Causes: Improves aggressiveness to chase rebounds
- How To Get: Grab down 70 offensive and 250 defensive rebounds
Defensive Stopper
- Causes: Decreases effectiveness of offensive skills of defensive match-up
- How To Get: Land multiple “good shot defense”, “good transition defense” and “stop fastbreak” teammate grades
Charge Card
- Causes: More effective at taking the charge
- How To Get: Take seven charges
Pick Dodger
- Causes: Improve ability to get around screens
- How To Get: Use turbo to fight through screens. Do this until you unlock the badge.
Pick Pocket
- Causes: Improve ability to steal from ball handler
- How To Get: Cause a loose ball 50 times
Rim Protector
- Causes: Improves defensive awareness around the rim
Chase Down Artist
- Causes: Improves ability to get back on defense in transition and stop the fast break
