Start with the Myplayer campaign and you will learn to love it, if you dig basketball.
The game looks amazing. Players all have there individual way of moving around the court and the arena simulates the NBA very well. Faces however do not look realistic but rather plastic.
You will be best off to start of with the Mycareer mode when you are new to the game. I tried some instant quick matched but failed hopelessly to control my team and to score even the simply-est lay-ups. After adjusting some in game sliders and a couple of hours in mycareer I had learned the controls and was ready to rumble!
Boy is this fun. I can dunk, make alley oops, shoot 3 pointers etc. After spending some 30 hours I am still discovering new moves and events. I even fell over a camera man after dunking and we jointly rolled over the ground. Nice detail!
The game fails to be superb due to the following. The breaks and stat reports quickly start to be annoying since you can't skip em fast enough to my liking. This is a waste of my time. I don't want to watch the upcoming schedule of my opponent!
The same is the case with the referee's holding on to the ball before they resume the game. The slam dunk contest and 3 point shoot-out have a different set of controls than the ones used in-game. Personally I therefore don't like either of em.
This game will appeal to the fans of the genre. Online play or playing with friends will be great fun and the My Career mode can keep you of the streets for months.