NBA The Run's June 25 Patch: Every Change, Explained

NBA The Run’s first balance patch dropped June 25. No new content — it’s a tuning pass — but it moves the meta in a few real ways. Here’s the whole thing in plain English.

What the patch changed

The gameplay changes you’ll feel:

• Contesting matters more. Nearby defenders have a bigger effect on jumpshots, and the penalty for shooting on the move got harsher. Open looks and set feet are worth more now.
• Steals got nerfed. Reaching for a steal slows you down more and burns more energy — gambling on D is riskier.
• Goaltending is a skill check. The auto-block radius at the rim shrank, so clean rim protection takes real timing, and more goaltends are on the table.
• More shot variety. Two new “Good Shot” outcomes, and off-the-break transition hoops hit more often and from deeper.
• Defensive switching in Knockout Solos got its own input — switch straight to the icon defender with L1 + Cross/Circle (PS) or LB + A/B (Xbox). Full maps on the controls page.
• Guard and Protect Ball input timing got tuned.

The random rulesets also got re-weighted: Oop City and Dunkfest are now Rare, Pickup is Common — so expect more straight-up basketball and fewer gimmick modes.

The player updates: what moved, what didn’t

The patch also retuned a bunch of players — but the notes just dropped names and “attribute updated,” never what changed. Here’s the part that matters: which ratings actually moved.

Player	Patch said	What changed
Cade Cunningham	Feedback update	+7 bars → A tier
Trae Young	Improved	+3 bars
El Gigante	Street Legend buff	Power +1
Jalen Brunson	Feedback update	Aura +1
Bam Adebayo	Feedback update	No change
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Feedback update	No change
Victor Wembanyama	Feedback update	No change
DJ (Destiny Jackson)	Improved + faster jumpshot	No change
Shen Tong · $pin Cycle · Bobbito	Street Legend buff	No change

Cade is the big winner — seven bars up, enough to jump him into A tier. Trae, El Gigante, and Brunson each tick up too. Here’s the exact before/after on the four that moved:

Player	Stat	Before	After
Cade Cunningham	3-Point	4	5
	Handles	4	5
	Guard	3	4
	Steals	2	3
	Blocks	3	4
	Speed	4	5
	Aura	3	4
Trae Young	3-Point	4	5
	Speed	4	5
	Stamina	4	5
El Gigante	Power	4	5
Jalen Brunson	Aura	4	5

But the rest of the named players look untouched. The notes said Bam Adebayo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, DJ, and the Street Legends got “updated” — yet their bars read exactly the same as before.

Did they tweak it just under a bar?

Here’s the catch: ratings only show as 1–5 bars, so a small buff can nudge a player’s real value without flipping a whole bar. When the notes say SGA or Wembanyama got “updated” and the bar doesn’t move, that’s the open question — did they get a touch better in a way you can feel, or did the notes oversell it?

That’s exactly what The Lab is for. Got the game? Take those players for a run and tell us if they feel different — that’s how we catch the changes hiding between the bars.

On the horizon

The studio also dropped a roadmap. Three new NBA players land in July (teased as a draft class), and an August “Summer Heat” season brings new rulesets — Block Party (your blocks subtract from the opponent’s score) and All the Fire (fire shots worth +1) — plus a new NYC court, a Practice Mode, and more.