Controls

Can't be held forever — drains the stamina ring under your feet. Empty stamina disables dunks, dives, alley-oops and shoves.

Off-ball: demand the rock. Confirmed from the in-game controls screen (July 22, 2026).

Same trigger as defensive clamp. On offense it shields the ball from steals and shoves — the answer to 'how do I stop getting ripped'.

Off the ball, X finishes the alley-oop — and near the rim off an offensive board it throws down the putback dunk. Confirmed from the in-game controls screen (July 22, 2026).

No shot meter. Time the RELEASE to the top of the jump; a perfect release sets the ball on fire. Same face button as Dunk, Layup and Steal — context decides.

Pass to an open or cutting teammate. Passing to a cutting/airborne teammate becomes the alley-oop — the finisher then taps Shoot/Dunk to throw it down.

This is the combo often MIS-labeled as 'alley-oop'. Bounces off the backboard for a self-finish or a teammate dunk; chains are possible. Confirmed from the in-game controls screen (July 22, 2026).

Four moves, one per stick direction. Costs more stamina, more powerful — but a low-handle player can break their OWN ankles. Also parries a defender's steal attempt. The controls screen names these Ankle Breaker 1-4 (LB + four right-stick gestures) — same name as the Zone ability, but this is the dribble-trick input.

Push-off = RS left/right, Step-back = RS right/left, Spin = RS down/up. Right stick alone — no bumper. The controls screen names the gestures: Push Off, Step Back, Spin.

Ballhandler style move, straight off the in-game controls screen (corrected July 22, 2026 — we previously listed it as an LT+B escape pass). The July 21 patch gave it more generous distance/angle and a longer stun on the victim.

Ballhandler flash on the face button — listed on the controls screen alongside the right-stick moves and Ankle Breaker slots. Confirmed from the in-game controls screen (July 22, 2026).

Advanced dunks build the In the Zone meter faster but are harder to land. Practice in Shootaround. All four combos confirmed verbatim from the in-game controls screen (July 22, 2026). They pair with the loadout system: equip up to four Advanced Dunks before a Knockout run; slots 1-4 fire on these inputs.

Three simultaneous inputs — the hardest dunk package.

Same button as Shoot; the game auto-resolves dunk vs layup by spacing. Get into the paint first — far attempts get stripped.

No dedicated layup button. Pro move: start a dunk, then flip to a layup mid-animation to dodge a block.

Time the jump — a mistimed contest gives up an open look.

THE core defensive button. Holds your assignment and lowers their stats, opening up steals and blocks. Contain — don't spam steal.

Stamina-gated.

Confirmed input from the in-game controls screen (July 22, 2026) — effect undocumented; likely a stronger contest than plain Y, but that's hypothesis, not fact. Open Lab experiment (see The Lab: Enhanced Guard & Enhanced Block).

Confirmed input from the in-game controls screen (July 22, 2026). Verified: holding it DRAINS STAMINA while plain LT guard costs nothing — so it's a real turbo-defense mechanic. What the stamina buys is still an open Lab experiment (The Lab: Enhanced Guard & Enhanced Block).

Community-reported input — a well-timed shove can knock the ball loose for a turnover. Costs stamina, countered by Protect Ball (LT/L2), and repeatedly tuned down by the devs; see the shoving experiment in The Lab. Input corrected July 22, 2026: the in-game screen shows a right-stick click (we previously described a flick).

Same face button as Shoot — context = defense. Nerfed three times: June 25, 2026 (reaching slows you mid-attempt and burns more energy), July 21, 2026 (reduced reach range, speed, and angle), and August 10, 2026 (harder to steal after a pump fake; intercept angle, reach, and stealer speed all reduced again) — while near-intercept range got extended. The design push is clear: play the passing lanes, steal on-ball only on clear reads.

Plain A cycles control to the next teammate on defense. Confirmed from the in-game controls screen (July 22, 2026).

KO Solos only — icon/targeted switch onto a teammate on defense. Added in the June 25, 2026 patch. Listed on the main defense controls screen — not a KO-Solos-only input.

Corrected July 22, 2026 from the in-game controls screen (we previously listed R3). PS equivalent not yet confirmed.

Fire it only when that player's own In the Zone meter is full (each character charges their own) — ~30s of boosted speed/power/stamina + your character's signature ability. Because both sticks are always in use, players waste it by clicking accidentally. NOT L2+R2 (a common pre-launch error).

Equip up to four. Cosmetic, but builds crowd energy.