Regarding the franchise mode of NBA 2K23, basically you can start any team in 1983, 1991, 2002 or 2022 and almost all the historical players/salaries/caps/coaches are in there. As you move into future years, you load the actual draft class. It is basically an alternative history video game focused on the NBA. And when you play the games in the 20th century, they appear like a broadcast from the time period (although you can turn that feature off). The appearance of the players even changes over the eras (MJ in 1984 looks a lot different from 1991 MJ who looks a lot different from MJ in 2002).