NBA 2K23’s biggest draw is probably the return of the iconic Jordan Challenge.
In this game mode, you are given fifteen unique situations that Michael Jordan experienced in his career. Your goal is to meet three different requirements to get a rating of 3-stars on all fifteen challenges.
This isn’t just something that’s incredibly fun: getting 3-stars on all Jordan challenges will give you the highly coveted 99-rated Michael Jordan MyTeam card, Michael Jordan equipment on MyCareer, and a lot more.
These challenges can be tedious to perfect, but we’ll walk you through each challenge in this guide so you can finish them as fast as possible and claim the rewards. The good news? There are some simple tricks to get things done a little more easily.
Here’s exactly how to 3-star all Jordan challenges in NBA 2K23.
A Star is Born
First up is the ‘A Star Is Born’ Jordan challenge, and this is a tricky one to 3-star right off the bat.
In this, you start as 19-year-old freshman Michael Jordan at North Carolina, when he hits the most important shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game.
To get 3 stars on A Star Is Born, you’ll need to:
- Win the game
- Score 16 points
- Grab 9 rebounds
The only difficult challenge here is getting the nine rebounds. You are facing Patrick Ewing, who is an absolute monster on the glass and in the painted area.
You have two teammates who can gobble up a lot of rebounds in Sam Perkins and the athletic James Worthy.
You only have 24 minutes to grab nine rebounds, but on the bright side, you can play all of the 24 minutes. The coaching substitutions can be manually adjusted as well as the difficulty.
Right at the start of the game, switch Michael Jordan’s position to the four or the power forward. We want to play MJ on the post as much as possible.
You can switch Bacon to SG and Worthy to SF. Your goal from start to finish will be grabbing rebounds. It is a tough task as every forward or big man can outrebound you.
Keep your team on a man-to-man defensive scheme while you play Michael Jordan in the paint while defending. While in the paint, try to play zone and play the passing lanes.
Look at the image above and visualize the strategy that is going to be explained.
Now that we have our defense set up, the best strategy is to utilize the double-team button. You can press the L1 or LB, depending on your platform, to call for a double-team on whoever has the ball on the opposing team.
When do you initiate the double-team? You would want to call a double-team whenever they are clumped up above the perimeter. They might be calling high pick and rolls or even play passively on the perimeter. Force them to move by calling double-teams.
Pay attention to which teammate is going for the double-team when you press the button. If the player being left because of the double-team call cuts instantly, you want to contest the paint. Don’t go for the steal. We want rebounds.
Once the double-team traps the ball, he will most likely make a pass to an open player spotting up or a cutting player. If he passes to the spotting-up player, your other teammate can react and do a slightly contested jumper.
If you see the other player cutting towards you, this is where you try to bait the cutter by slightly leaving him to catch the ball, and Perkins will be there to contest. Defend against the possibility of a drop pass while controlling MJ.
The eventual result we are looking for is a guard or small forward attacking the rim right against Perkins. They will most likely miss, and you just need to win the rebound.
The other possibility is a slightly-open jumper from the opposing team. As the team’s power forward, you always want to be on the paint and try to grab that rebound if he misses.
Their power forward, Green, will not be a threat from the outside, and he will consistently try to spot up, which is weird.
Their offense will most likely collapse if this happens.
If you ever find yourself switching to Ewing and they pass the ball to him on the post, quickly switch control to another player and try to force Ewing to pass or strip the ball. You have no shot defending Ewing, especially on Superstar and above difficulty.
Another strategy is using your other players and slightly leaving your opponent for an uncontested shot.
While MJ is the power forward, you can try to leave the AI to try and grab the rebound if it misses. Your focus is trying to bait the opponent to shoot and slightly contest it.
If you are losing, avoid doing this because they can quickly catch up. If you are winning by a wide margin, try to shoot the ball as fast as possible to play defense.
These are all the strategies for grabbing rebounds.
If you are struggling with scoring 16 points as MJ or winning the game, try to focus on doing high pick and rolls with James Worthy or Perkins.
MJ’s greatest strength is his driving, finishing, and mid-range shooting. If the opponent sags, try to shoot a mid-range. If they double on a rolling Worthy, drive the basket.
The best way to take advantage of a pick and roll is by letting your shoulder touch the shoulder of your teammate who is setting the screen. This leaves the defender no room to go between.
Keep on scoring so you have no pressure on losing the game and focus on the hard rebounding challenge.
Cheese strategy: Put the CPU sliders of all rebounding attributes to 0 while increasing all user sliders of all rebounding to 100.
You will still need to outrebound your teammates. You can also put all CPU sliders related to scoring, such as driving layups, short, medium, 3-point shots, and a lot more, to 0. They will miss every single possession, so you have a lot of chances to get 9 rebounds.
Got Next
As a warm-up to the 1984 Olympics, Michael Jordan leads the all-amateur ’84 Team USA squad to victory over a collection of NBA Stars in front of a record crowd in Indianapolis, IN.
To get 3 stars on the ‘Got Next’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you’ll need to:
- Win the game
- Score 12 points
- Win by 15 points or more
The challenges in the game are simple, but there is a twist that makes it extremely hard. Your 84′ Team USA squad is filled with a lot of low-rated players except for Patrick Ewing’s 83 overall rating.
Your version of Michael Jordan is also only rated at 85 overall. The rest of your teammates are a bunch of benchwarmers who are rated way too low, some of them wouldn’t even make an NBA team today.
The biggest challenge is facing a bunch of all-stars in Larry Bird, Paxson, and a lot of superstars. The best comparison would probably be pitting the Detroit Pistons against the Western All-Stars in NBA 2K23.
I didn’t even bother trying to finish this on the hall of fame difficulty. The odds are stacked against you. I suggest going for a pro to all-star difficulty level to scale the challenge for a more immersive experience.
The strategy I used to finish the challenge is by running a non-stop pick and roll action with Patrick Ewing. The offense is a lot easier as long as you maintain your stamina and be efficient.
Focus 100% on defense and try not to leave any man unguarded. Use double-teams to trap when possible. If you are leading, try to run the clock down.
Cheese strategy: Maximize all offensive user sliders to 100 and just rain down threes.
The Arrival
The Arrival is one of the most iconic Jordan games. It was the battle between the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference 1st Round Game 2 in 1986.
This was the time when the Boston Celtics were the most unstoppable team in the league, and they met a young Michael Jordan making a name for himself hence, “The Arrival.”
To get a 3 star in ‘The Arrival’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you’ll need to do the following:
- Win the game
- Score 63 points
- Get 6 assists
While Jordan didn’t win the game back then, you have to win to 3-star this challenge.
The first thing you need to do is to go back to the main menu and go to the settings. Change the minutes from 5 per quarter to whichever you feel comfortable doing 63 points and 6 assists.
The Boston Celtics have Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Rick Carlisle, Bill Walton, and a ton of other good players. Your team will be way weaker, so you can adjust the difficulty to your preference.
I finished this one on pro difficulty, so you can get the stats needed in 5 minutes per quarter. Finishing this on superstar or hall of fame is definitely possible because Jordan is already quite good here.
You also have Charles Oakley and George Gervin. Just make sure to increase the minutes per quarter if you want to take on the challenge on a harder difficulty.
You’ll just normally play (get the ball to Jordan on every possession) and try to get 63 points and 6 assists doing high pick and rolls, isolation plays, and get Jordan running the fastbreak all the time.
Cheese Strategy: Maximize all offensive sliders to 100. You can finish the game with 63 points and 6 assists in under 5 minutes by unloading threes on every possession.
Star of Stars
The Star of Stars challenge is probably Jordan’s way of saying to everyone that he is literally the best player in the league at that time.
It was the time when Bird and Magic knew that he is going to take over the league and father time was kicking in for them to keep up with Jordan’s brilliance.
To get a 3 star in ‘Star of Stars’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you’ll need to do the following:
- Win the game
- Score 40 points
- Grab 8 rebounds; get 3 assists
Like the first challenge, the hardest part of the challenge is getting 8 rebounds. Unlike the first challenge, you are playing with and against the best players in the league.
As a shooting guard, it will be incredibly difficult to get the 8 rebounds. The best way to finish it is by using the same exact strategy in the first challenge.
Put MJ in the power forward position and play around the paint. You can prolong the minutes to make the challenge a bit easier.
Another helpful tip is to intentionally foul the other team for free throws. Lower their sliders, and you will have chances at grabbing the rebound from the missed free throw while stopping the clock.
Cheese Strategy: Maximize all offensive CPU sliders to 0 and all offensive user sliders to 100. Maximize all rebounding user sliders to 100 and all rebounding CPU sliders to 0.
The Shot
The Shot challenge is Jordan’s iconic game-winning shot against the Cavaliers over Craig Ehlo. This challenge is unique because it is a quick-time event. The challenge only lasts for about 20 seconds.
To get a 3 star in ‘The Shot’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you’ll need to do the following:
- Juke Larry Nance
- Correctly aim “The Shot”
- Win the game
The first quick-time event will just be spamming the button A or X, depending on your platform. This is where Jordan jukes Larry Nance to get the ball.
Jordan will drive at the top of the key and stop and pop for a jumper for the next quick-time event.
Once Jordan pulls up, you need to adjust the ‘shot’ by moving the circle with your analog sticks toward the basket.
Shootout
The Shootout challenge is all about Jordan’s iconic duel against Dominique Wilkins in the eastern conference playoffs.
To get a 3 star in ‘Shootout’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you’ll need to do the following:
- Win the game
- Outscore Dominique Wilkins
- Score 40 points; hold Dominique Wilkins to under 20 points
The challenge is fairly easy. Scoring points shouldn’t be a problem once you reach this part of the challenges already.
Holding Dominique to under 20 points is also easy because he isn’t really a great 3-point shooter. Dominique gets his score more on driving to the basket and getting to the paint to score.
Once Dominique gets the ball, you just need to press L1 or LB to call for a double team. It forces the ball out of his hands, but he can find an open teammate.
Even if they get to score, Dominique will be held under 20 points if you do this consistently throughout the game.
There will be times when Dominique will sneak a cut to the basket and score. You can’t do anything about it because sometimes the AI on defense really falls asleep.
Cheese Strategy: Maximize all offensive CPU sliders to 0 and all offensive user sliders to 100. Score as much as you can and double-team Dominique on every single possession. You can double him even off the ball so he really doesn’t score. Score on every possession and beat the challenge easily.
69 Points
The 69 Points Challenge is all about MJ’s career-high game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
To get a 3 star in the ’69 Points Challenge’ in NBA 2K23, you need to do the following.
- Win the game
- Score 69 points
- Shoot 50% or better from the field
The challenges look pretty straightforward. You need to use MJ on every single possession and score as many points as possible.
MJ is pretty much the best player (highest-rated player) already, so the challenge is easy to finish.
If you are having trouble scoring, use your teammates to get MJ free. Run plays designed for MJ or keep on getting screens and drive to the basket.
Try to force the opponents to run their offense quickly. The pace matters a lot since you need to score a lot of points.
If you still have trouble scoring points, you can increase the minutes-per-quarter settings to make it more feasible. It could seem impossible to do on the default 5 minutes per quarter settings.
Cheese strategy: Max out all offensive sliders to 100. Use MJ on a single possession, and you can finish the challenge in just one quarter of action.
The Bad Boys
The Bad Boys is Jordan’s biggest hurdle on his way to starting a dynasty. The challenge was taken in game 3, where Jordan won the game by scoring 47 points. Ultimately, they lost the series to the Bad Boys Pistons, and there was even a book about this whole thing (Jordan Rules).
To get a 3 star in ‘The Bad Boys’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you need to do the following.
- Win the game
- Score 47 points
- Grab 10 rebounds; get 4 assists
Again, the biggest challenge here is getting the ten rebounds. Use all the strategies used before in getting rebounds, like putting MJ in the PF position or using zone defense and playing inside the paint.
Forcing the enemy team to take semi-contested shots in the zone defense can help you get rebounds, even as a guard.
The Detroit Pistons are one of the best defensive teams too. You might find it a bit hard to score 47 points, but you should be used to scoring with MJ at this point.
If you still have trouble, you can increase the minute settings.
Cheese strategy: Max out all rebounding and offensive user sliders to 100 while reducing all rebounding, offensive, and defensive CPU sliders to 0.
Start of a Dynasty
The Start of a Dynasty challenge is MJ’s road to his first championship against the aging showtime Lakers.
To get a 3 star in the ‘Start of a Dynasty’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you need to do the following.
- Win the game
- Score 30 points; get 10 assists
- Shoot 50% or better from the field; grab 4 rebounds
This challenge is probably one of the easiest challenges on the list. However, shooting 50% or better from the field can still be difficult if you are playing on a high difficulty.
To get 10 assists, you just have to run the offense and call for screens. Find the open man while slashing to the basket.
The opposing team will usually call for help against you when you drive, and you can kick the ball back to the open player.
Cheese strategy: Max out all offensive user sliders to 100. If you have trouble getting the 4 rebounds, you can decrease rebounding CPU sliders to 0. You don’t have to put MJ on PF since 4 rebounds can be done as the shooting guard with the sliders on.
The Shrug
The Shrug challenge is Jordan’s iconic game when he made six threes in the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers. He was against one of the best guards, Clyde Drexler, and absolutely torched him.
Jordan wasn’t known for his threes, and he did the iconic shrug after dropping down all those threes.
To get a 3 star in ‘The Shrug’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you need to do the following.
- Win the game
- Hit 6 threes in the first half
- Score 39 points; hold Clyde Drexler to under 17 points
Hitting six threes is incredibly hard. The difficulty really matters here, and if you are playing on Superstar or Hall of Fame difficulty, you run set plays to get MJ open.
Off-the-ball plays can help get MJ open because he isn’t the best 3-point shooter out there. When you get six threes in the first half, you can easily get 39 points.
Hold Clyde Drexler by double-teaming him when he drives to the basket or when he touches the ball. Use the same strategy when you were holding Dominique down in the previous challenge.
Since MJ is guarding Clyde, you might want to change his position. You don’t want to exhaust MJ’s stamina too fast because his attributes will decline.
If MJ’s attributes decline because of the lack of stamina, you will rarely hit your threes, even if you are open. Make sure to green every 3-point shot.
If you fail, you can easily restart the challenge because you have to do the first challenge in the first half.
Cheese strategy: Max out 3-point shooting user sliders to 100. Put all offensive CPU sliders to 0. This will help you rain down threes at will and also hold Clyde Drexler to under 17 points.
Double Nickle
The Double Nickle challenge is MJ’s 55-point game against the Knicks. While it might not be as spectacular as MJ’s 69 points or 63 points in the playoffs, this one is significant because this was MJ’s back-from-retirement arrival.
When MJ returned from his retirement, he wasn’t himself. This game signified that he was heading towards greatness and his return to championship form.
To get 3 stars in the ‘Double Nickel’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you need to do the following.
- Win the game
- Score 55 points
- Hold John Starks to less than 2 threes
Scoring 55 points is a bit hard because they have Patrick Ewing, who is a great defensive big man. MJ relies on scoring to the basket or his mid-range jumper, but it might be a bit harder if the paint is always clogged.
Focus on getting MJ going fast by dropping jumpers using pick and pops. Keep on calling screens and read the defense.
If they hedge in the pick and roll, you can force the pass to your rolling big and try to get the ball back to MJ.
Focus on every single defensive possession on John Starks. You don’t have to use MJ for this. You only need to make sure that John Starks never gets open for an open three.
Cheese strategy: Max out all offensive user sliders to 100. Reduce all 3-point CPU sliders to 0.
Father’s Day
The Father’s Day Victory challenge was Jordan’s road to his 4th title and his first title after retirement. This day caps off the Chicago Bulls’ unstoppable 72-10 regular season record, which was the greatest regular season record before the Warriors got their 73-9 record.
However, the Bulls were able to win the championship, while the Warriors failed to secure the perfect season with a ring.
To get a 3 star in the ‘Father’s Day Victory’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you need to do the following.
- Win the game
- Score 22 points; grab 9 rebounds
- Get 7 assists; win by 12 points or more
Again, we have a rebounding challenge. Follow the same strategies before, but we will be fighting against one of the best rebounders in Shawn Kemp, for this challenge.
You can tweak the strategy to switching MJ to the center position instead of the power forward position since Shawn Kemp will be playing the four.
However, you need to get 7 assists and win by 12 points, so there is a lot to think about while doing this challenge.
You cannot leave them open to try and get rebounds because they might catch up. Having a solid overall game throughout will help you.
If you are up by at least 20 points, you can try to intentionally foul them to try and get rebounds. You can even foul Gary Payton because he is a below-average free throw shooter.
Cheese strategy: Max out all rebounding and offensive user sliders to 100. Reduce all rebounding and offensive CPU sliders to 0.
The Flu Game
The infamous Flu Game is probably Jordan’s 2nd most iconic game. It was game 5 of the 1996-1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, where Jordan got sick before the game but still played through it.
MJ ended up with 38 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and a 2-pt win against the Utah Jazz.
- Win the game
- Score 38 points
- Grab 7 rebounds; get 5 assists
Luckily for you, Jordan isn’t really that sick in the challenge. Jordan’s overall rating will be a bit lower because he is technically injured when you play.
However, you can treat it as Jordan being a bit weaker, but you can still perform normally. Rebounds will be hard because you will be facing Karl Malone, who is decent at getting rebounds.
The hardest part of getting the rebounds is that Dennis Rodman can also grab all your rebounds as your teammate. He is one of the greatest rebounders in the game, and you will be playing alongside him.
You can try to bench Rodman to try and get more rebounds. Longley can also grab the boards, but he is a bit slower.
Play the game normally. Your team is very good already. However, you want MJ to get most of the stats.
For this specific challenge, you need to conserve MJ’s stamina a bit. He will get tired easily because of his ‘injury.’
Cheese strategy: Max out all offensive and rebounding user sliders to 100. Reduce all offensive and rebounding CPU sliders to 0.
Pass the Torch
The Pass the Torch challenge is Jordan’s game against a young Kobe Bryant. It was considered a ‘passing of the torch’ because Kobe’s game mirrored Jordan’s game.
Kobe studied and idolized Jordan. He is the closest one to a player being compared to MJ because of his mentality, similarities in skills, and his competitiveness.
To get 3 stars in the ‘Pass the Torch’ challenge in NBA 2K23, you need to do the following.
- Win the game
- Score 38 points
- Grab 7 rebounds; get 5 assists
Scoring 38 points should already be a no-brainer. This should be an average game at this point since a lot of the challenges before were a lot harder than this one.
Keep doing the strategies mentioned before, and you should be fine. If you still have trouble, lower the difficulty or increase the minutes played per quarter.
Cheese strategy: Max out all offensive and rebounding user sliders to 100. Lower all rebounding CPU sliders to 0.
The Last Dance
The Last Dance challenge is MJ’s most iconic game. It was game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz. The game cemented MJ’s legacy as one of the greatest to ever play the game.
His Airness pulled up on top of the key after juking Bryon Russell and hit the game-winning shot to win his 6th and final championship.
- Win the game
- Score 45 points
- Hold Jeff Hornacek to under 15 points
The challenge isn’t the same quick-time event as the shot over Craig Ehlo, but it is also fitting that you have to play the whole game.
You only have to score 45 points while holding Jeff Hornacek to under 15 points. Jeff isn’t even Utah’s 2nd best player on their team, so it should be easy to hold him down.
Just avoid giving him open looks, as he is a decent shooter. Most of the possessions will go through John Stockton and Karl Malone anyway.
Focus on scoring with MJ throughout every offensive possession. Never leave Jeff Hornacek and this should be an easy challenge.
Cheese strategy: Max out all offensive user sliders to 100. Reduce all offensive CPU sliders to 0. You can even leave Jeff Hornacek open and he will miss every shot. However, if you leave him open under the basket, he can still make the shot even with 0 offensive CPU sliders.
What to Do Next?
After completing all the challenges, you will receive the rewards, including the 99 Michael Jordan MyTeam card. If you aren’t familiar with the game mode, here are the first things to do in MyTeam to get you started.
This card can jumpstart your progress in MyTeam, and the challenges are really easy to do, especially if you finish them all using the cheese strategy.
