NBA 2K22 isn't just a game about playing basketball. It's also about the moments inbetween games, such as the drama of the NBA draft, sponsorship deals, and most importantly, training. NBA 2K22's MyCareer campaign lets players train up a new player for the big leagues, completing quests and experiencing their story.
Just like in real life, the road to improvement in NBA 2K22 can be arduous. Players need to follow a training schedule, attending team practices and going to the gym.
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This can be frustrating, but there's a way to alleviate it. NBA 2K22 lets players equip badges to buff their athlete's stats, and a fan favorite is the Gym Rat Badge. It gives a permanent boost to the player's attributes and removes the need for workouts.
Getting the badge, however, isn't easy. And the means to unlock it are different depending on whether the player is on the Next Gen or the Current Gen version of the game.
NBA 2K22's Next Gen Gym Rat Badge
The biggest difference between the next gen version, for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and the current gen version, for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, is in the MyCareer mode. Both versions of NBA 2K22 let players create a character and customize their build, but only the next gen version lets players explore an open city and take on city quests.
The quest that gives the player the Gym Rat Badge is helpfully labeled "Gym Rat" on the pause menu's quest list. This quest will take the player to the Gatorade Gym. In order to complete the quest, the player must complete 50 3-star workouts.
The standard gym will only allow the player to do 5 different workouts every in-game week, so it should take 10 weeks of training to finish the quest. This can be sped up by going to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute to get extra workouts unrelated to this limit.
NBA 2K22's Current Gen Gym Rat Badge
NBA 2K22's current gen career mode plays more like a standard sports game, without side quests and free-roaming. The way the player unlocks the Gym Rat Badge is more straightforward, but more difficult.
In order to unlock the Gym Rat Badge, players just need to win an NBA championship. Players should make sure they know which team they want to play with before starting their NBA 2K22 career, to best maximize their chances. Players should also remember that, once they've earned their place as a team starter, NBA 2K22 allows them to simulate seasons instead of going through every match manually.
NBA 2K22 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.