Lexie Brown blasts NBA 2K26 model, questions WNBA inclusion accuracy

Lexie Brown put NBA 2K26’s WNBA presentation back under a microscope when a 46-second clip of the Seattle Storm guard complaining about her in-game model raced past 600,000 views on X. In the video, Brown made her position plain: if 2K is going to feature WNBA players, the likenesses need to be right.

Her complaint cuts to the heart of a question 2K players know well, but WNBA fans feel even more sharply. Brown said developers should either improve the models or leave WNBA players out entirely, a line that landed because the series has spent years building out its women’s basketball footprint while still drawing criticism over accuracy. Brown later clarified on Threads that the clip was recorded two years earlier and that she no longer plays NBA 2K, which turned the viral reaction into a fresh reminder of an older frustration rather than a brand-new flare-up.

The timing still matters. NBA 2K26’s official MyTEAM setup brings NBA and WNBA players together in the mode for the first time, opening the door to mixed-lineup cards and more crossover use of women’s players across one of the game’s most popular modes. The W is also back in NBA 2K26 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, giving WNBA content a wider footprint than it had in earlier entries. That makes Brown’s critique more than a personal gripe. If WNBA players are being pushed into more modes and more lineups, then the quality of those models becomes a bigger part of the game’s value.

2K has been here before. On August 8, 2019, the publisher announced that all 12 WNBA teams and players would debut in NBA 2K20, the first entry in the franchise to include the league. Since then, the women’s side of the game has expanded, but the likeness debate has not gone away. Chennedy Carter also publicly called out her NBA 2K25 likeness in 2024, showing Brown is not the only player to notice when the face scan, body shape, or overall model misses the mark.

Brown’s latest moment puts 2K on notice in a way the community understands immediately. When a current WNBA player says the game got her wrong, the pressure is no longer just on social media noise. It is on Visual Concepts to prove that WNBA inclusion means more than a roster slot and a logo.