Faces of the NBA

If you're going to judge a game by its screenshots, as we are here, NBA Live 08 is the clear winner; players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James look amazing. Obviously the basic models in Live are extremely accurate, but it's how the game makes effective use of lighting and sweat that really takes the players' appearance to the next level. NBA 2K8 is no slouch, but the players almost look as if they're wearing makeup, and there's very little variety to players' eyes--they all seem like the same pair. NBA 08's players lag far behind those in Live and 2K8. Many of the faces seem flat-out wrong, while others have exaggerated features, skin that's too light, or wrinkled foreheads that make them look 10 years older than they really are.

All screens were taken in 720p from the PlayStation 3 version of each game, using the best possible angle from a first-quarter instant replay. Player photos are from NBA 2K8. Note that some of the images have players looking in different directions. This is due to in-game ball tracking.

What do you think? We've included a poll for each player, so you can vote for the game that nails each player's likeness the best!

To compare images, move your mouse over the player's name. For example, Kobe Bryant's in-game photo can be seen by moving your mouse cursor over "Kobe Bryant 1." His NBA Live 08 version can be seen by moving your mouse cursor over "Kobe Bryant 2."