About Hoop Gauntlet

Welcome to Hoop Gauntlet, the premier basketball simulation and draft game on the web. Hoop Gauntlet challenges your basketball IQ by allowing you to build the ultimate custom basketball player and put them to the test against historical legends in a 1v1 play-by-play simulation.

How to Play

The core gameplay revolves around "The Blueprint" – a 10-slot attribute system that defines your player's capabilities on the court. To fill a slot, you spin the draft machine to randomly select an NBA Decade and Franchise. From that specific historical pool, you must scout and assign a player to inherit their exact statistical rating for that attribute category.

The 10 Attributes

Your custom build consists of ten distinct ratings: Size (Height and Weight), Athleticism, Layups, Dunking, Post Play, Mid-Range Accuracy, 3-Point Shooting, Playmaking, Perimeter Defense, and Paint Defense. Balancing these stats is critical to surviving the Gauntlet.

The Simulation Engine

Once your draft is complete, your player is thrown into the Gauntlet: a 10-tier 1v1 ladder against the greatest players in basketball history. Our proprietary simulation engine calculates every single possession using an advanced Elo-style algorithm. It accounts for physical mismatches (e.g., speed blow-bys or strength bully-ball) and dynamically adjusts shooting percentages based on defensive pressure.

Blind Scouting Mode

For the ultimate hardcore basketball fans, Blind Scouting mode strips away all visible player archetypes and physical stats during the draft. You must rely entirely on your raw knowledge of NBA history to build your player. At the end of the run, you are graded on your overall Scouting Accuracy.