How It Works
Spin, draft your NBA starting five, then win all 82 games and sweep the playoffs 16-0.
The Idea
Spin a random NBA club and season, pick one player from that roster, and repeat until your starting five is full. Then your team joins the league and plays a full 82 game regular season, then the playoffs. Win all 82 and you go 82-0. Then sweep all four playoff series 4-0, 16 wins and no losses, and you go 98-0: the perfect season.
The Team
You fill a starting five on the court: two Guards, two Forwards and a Centre. Point guards and shooting guards are Guards, small forwards and power forwards are Forwards, and centres play the Centre spot. A player listed in two lines, like a shooting guard who also played small forward, or a power forward who also played centre, can fill a spot in either: tap him and choose where you want him.
The Season
Your team joins the Western Conference as a 31st side. Like the NBA, you play every club in the East twice and every club in the West three or four times: 52 conference games and 30 against the East, 82 in all. Every club plays its own 82 too, so the standings are real ones, by winning percentage. A tied game goes to overtime, so every game has a winner.
The Playoffs
The top six in each conference go straight into the playoffs. 7th to 10th play the Play-In Tournament: 7th v 8th for the 7th seed, 9th v 10th to stay alive, then the loser of the first game against the winner of the second for the 8th seed. Then come four best of seven rounds: the First Round, the Conference Semifinals, the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. The higher seed has home court. Sixteen wins and the title is yours. Win all sixteen without a loss and the season is perfect.
The Modes
| Mode | How you draft | Ratings | Wildcards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | Spin a club and season, pick 1 player from that roster | Shown | 1 of each with a free CAST Profile, 2 of each with CAST Pass |
| Hard | Classic spins | Hidden until your five is full | Paid only, one of each |
| Pack | Rip open 3 packs of 5 cards, then pick your best five from what you pull | Shown | Immortal Picks only |
Pack cards come in five rarities: Elite, Green, Blue, Silver and Bronze. Hard Mode has its own leaderboard, so pure hoops knowledge gets its own ranking.
Wildcards
- Reroll: bin the current spin and get a fresh club and season.
- Reveal Ratings: show the ratings on the current roster when they are hidden.
- Remove Player: take one player out of your five and draft that spot again. If your five is full, you can still use it before you lock in.
- Star Key: your next spin has a player rated 95 or more (Classic only).
- Immortal Pick: choose one of three NBA Immortals, and he joins your five rated 99.
Wildcards come with a free CAST Profile. Guests see them locked until they sign in. CAST Pass adds a second of each, a Star Key every day, Substitute (move a player already in your five into another open spot he can play, once a Classic season) and Custom Seasons (pick your era and hide the ratings in Classic). Hard is Hard Mode: no free wildcards for anyone, CAST Pass included, but you can use one of each a season from your Vault or buy it on the spot.
Run It Back
Just missed out in Classic? A Run It Back runs your finished season back with one loss turned into a win: a lost NBA Finals first, otherwise your closest regular season loss, or for an 82-0 side its first playoff loss. Once a season. A season run back shows a boost mark on the leaderboards, and a run-back perfect season still counts as a Perfect Season.
The Rules
- Every player can only be picked once.
- Picks are final, unless you use Remove Player.
- Your team rating comes from the ratings of your starting five, each counting the same.
- The season is simulated from your team rating: the stronger your five, the better your chances every night, but upsets happen, especially in the playoffs.
- Your best season in every mode goes up on today’s, this week’s and the all-time leaderboards, with Perfect Seasons and your longest streak.
Awards
Every season names an MVP, the regular season’s Most Valuable Player, and a Finals MVP for the NBA Finals.
Where the Ratings Come From
The player pool covers NBA players from the 1950-51 season to 2025-26, every player with 2000 or more NBA points at a franchise that still exists. Seasons are shown the NBA way, like 1995-96. Every rating is an editorial opinion of The Cast Patrol, built from peak performance, era context and career impact. They are debatable. That is the point. They are not official NBA ratings and may differ from any other source.
Spot something that looks wrong? Let us know and we’ll check it.