Given that, last year, I compared NBA 2K14 to NBA Live 14 by saying it’d be like LeBron James playing a pickup game against an arthritic giraffe, you could say that I wasn’t a big fan of EA’s reborn pro hoops series. What few things it did right were drastically outweighed by the Shaq-sized list of things it got horribly, horribly wrong – from laggy and unresponsive controls to ugly presentation and generally poor gameplay. EA recently visited IGN and, to their credit, humbly discussed what transpired last year. More importantly, they came to show, not tell, why NBA Live 15 will be a mightily improved game.

Not a bullshot -- Live 15 actually does look WAY better than 14.

Let’s start with obvious: the graphics. Players no longer look like plastic man-dolls. Skin looks a lot more like actual flesh, and you’ll see much clearer texture detail. Thankfully, the players also no longer have a PS2-like white glow on them; lighting is much better. The lower TV-style camera angle are more pleasurable to play from, and I also saw some nice arena-specific crowd touches too. EA tells me that most players have been completely re-scanned and recreated, and their claim certainly passes the eyeball test.Perhaps more importantly, animations are completely overhauled, and it’s obvious. EA says that over 600 dunks and layups alone have had their motion capture redone, and that they now blend better. They also showed me improved physics, where players actually bump into each other and don’t just clip together. However, while the build I saw isn’t finished yet, I did see a number of passing animations repeat far too frequently. Hopefully a bit more variety gets sprinkled in before Live 15 ships.Finally, I’ll note that the controls are much more responsive. Input lag has been greatly reduced if not eliminated, though at first touch I’d say NBA 2K still feels tighter. Fast breaks do feel a bit too frequent and easy to run right now, though.[caption id="attachment_1101635" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Is it even legal to run a preview or review of an NBA game without showing LeBron? [/sarcasm][/caption]Tutorials, playcalling, and the halftime show are also all getting focused on. And while my gut reaction after a one-game hands-on tells me that NBA Live might not be dethroning NBA 2K just yet, that’s not a realistic expectation anyway. What matters is that not only is Live clearly heading in the right direction again, but also that Live 15 might be a legitimately fun basketball game without comparisons to animals with musculoskeletal diseases. That’s great news for hoops fans.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan , on IGN , catch him on Podcast Unlocked , and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.