NBA 2K21 was released in September for now-latest-gen consoles and again used The Neighborhood as part of the MyCAREER mode. One of the big selling points of NBA 2K21 Next Generation for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 was the evolution of that into what's known as The City. However, accessing The City isn't as easy as starting MyCAREER in NBA 2K21 Next Generation, as you'll need to do some work before you can access it.
How to unlock the city
To get started, you need to start your CAREER by creating your own player and going through the intro segments. At some point you should reach a menu where you have options like play next game and more. If you scroll down in this menu, you should see an option to go to The City, but you won't be able to enter quite yet.
This will bring you to a new area that is full of four blacktop courts for you to play on. You cannot enter The City until you enter an Affiliate, which requires you to reach a certain MYREP level in the game. You will start at Rookie I, you will need to reach Pro I to be noticed and offered through an affiliation and thus enter The City itself.
After you start at Rookie I, you have to increase your rank a few levels, with Rookie II and Rookie III before you get to Pro I. The only way to raise your level here is to participate in the blacktop games which you will have to level up and interact with open slots to enter. There are three courts which are 3v3, while the fourth is divided into two parts 1v1.
Winning your games will definitely give you more MYREP points to improve your ranking, but you will find that it can be difficult to always win depending on your teammates and opponents here. If you still do well in a loss, you'll get points, but it's a lot less than if you win. Really, your best is to keep grinding it until you get some good matches to win and get the points that way.
Once you reach Pro I, the game will tell you that you can choose an affiliation and access The City right now for the first time in NBA 2K21 Next Generation.
