The original NBA 2K had 29 playable NBA teams. Released for the Sega Dreamcast in 1999, it used teams and players from the 1999–2000 NBA season.
That total reflected the league’s structure at the time. The NBA had 29 franchises from 1995, when the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joined, until the Charlotte Bobcats expanded the league to 30 teams for the 2004–05 season.
NBA 2K was developed by Visual Concepts and published by Sega. It featured Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson on the cover and was designed as a realistic basketball simulation, with authentic NBA teams, players, coaching playbooks, and broadcast-style presentation.
The number is often confused with 30 because today’s NBA has 30 franchises. It can also be confused with the number of teams in a particular playoff or season mode, but the original game’s full NBA lineup contained 29 playable teams.