How to activate a Takeover in NBA 2K25

Takeovers are the definitive way to—you guessed it—take over a game in NBA 2K25 MyCAREER. Once you activate a Takeover and its respective Takeover Ability, you’ll be hard to stop, but doing so isn’t an easy task.

Activating a Takeover in NBA 2K25 is a straightforward process—you only need to play well. This is not as simple as it sounds, though, because every mistake and bad play will set you back on your way to activating the ultimate Takeover Ability that will truly kick your skills up a gear.

Takeovers in NBA 2K25, explained

Takeovers are not activated manually, and are entirely dependent on how you play on the court. Play a clean game and you’ll fill the Takeover Meter. Commit mistakes, and the bar will quickly go back to zero. Once the meter’s full, you’ll level up the Takeover and receive various stat boosts. There are five total levels to go through, each giving you better rewards and making you more dangerous on the court. Filling that fifth and final Takeover Meter bar also unlocks a devastating Takeover Ability.

There are 72 Takeovers in NBA 2K25, all with unique upgrade paths, improving different aspects of your game. Just like contact dunks, Takeovers also have stat requirements that must be met before you can equip them to your MyPLAYER, and you can only have one Takeover equipped at any time. Takeovers can be very powerful if you make the most of them, so it’s highly advisable you pick a Takeover that meshes well with your build and level-up attributes in accordance, so you can have access to that Takeover early.

Takeover Abilities in NBA 2K25, explained

Each Takeover has its own assigned Takeover Ability that comes into effect after you complete level five. These cannot be manually altered and there are just 14 of them, each being the final reward for several Takeovers, so looking for that ultimate combo is a core process of maximizing the potential of this system. Unlike Takeovers, which boost your raw stats, Takeover Abilities raise the likelihood of your actions being successful. Activating one feels like maxing out the Luck stat in an RPG.

One thing you should look out for is leveling up your attributes too much. Sounds weird, but with the stat boosts from Takeovers being quite significant, you could see diminishing returns if you hit that 99 cap at level two, for example. One way to deal with this is to equip a different Takeover that will raise the value of some of your weaker stats.

Badges are another way you can improve your MyPLAYER in NBA 2K25, outside of base attributes. There aren’t quite as many Badges as there are Takeovers, which can be a good thing—less options make it less likely to make a bad choice.