With the release of Next Generation NBA 2K21, marveling at the realism of how players look in 2020 video games, got me thinking about the evolution of the basketball video game. The graphics have come a long way since Double Dribble dunk animations were "next generation" cool.
Also and this might not be a popular opinion, but made me think that graphics actually got good enough about twenty years ago, and if graphics are at least least "good" I think it's more about gameplay and fun factor when deciding how great a basketball video game is.