NBA2K is 25. Its influence is only growing.

For the next six years, as Visual Concepts produced NBA2K for Sega Sports and later ESPN, Fitzgerald lent his voice, though not his name — he went by the alias Bob Steele — to the game. He soon realized those hours-long sessions in which he had to announce every score combination up to 200 served a purpose when his son put up 174 points playing NBA2K. He laughed when his broadcasting colleagues complained about hearing his voice whenever their kids played the game. But the moment he realized he might be a part of something special came while watching the 2001 movie, “The Wash,” which features a scene in which Snoop Dogg gets high, has his hair braided and plays NBA2K, with a familiar voice in the background.

“I went, ‘Oh, damn. That’s NBA2K. That’s me,’ ” Fitzgerald says with a laugh. “I didn’t have an idea of what this was going to be.”

NBA2K on Friday released its 25th edition of a game that has surpassed anyone’s conception of what it could be — an all-encompassing basketball experience that touches on lifestyle, music, sneaker culture, fashion, basketball analytics and even urban planning — advancing over the years from developing a dream basketball player to a team to a park to a neighborhood to an entire city for hoopers to convene.

Snoop Dogg has gone from playing the game in a movie to making its theme music and appearing as one of its celebrity characters. Jay Z once served as executive producer; Spike Lee directed a storyline, and J. Cole appeared on the cover. The NBA and its teams now back a professional esports league, The NBA2K League. And NBA players look to the game’s player ratings as gospel, often tweaking NBA2K’s digital marketing director, Ronnie Singh, aka Ronnie 2K, over low ratings. Memphis Grizzlies all-star Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA’s reigning defensive player of the year, recently credited NBA2K with helping him develop the timing to become a better shot blocker.

“Basketball doesn’t change. The rules don’t dramatically change about it. But what we offer and what we aim to entertain our fans with changes so dramatically every single year,” Singh says. “We’re just scratching the surface.”

Dunking on the competition

As a kid, Erick Boenisch charted his stats playing with Jose Canseco and the Texas Rangers on Sports Talk Baseball on his Sega Genesis, and he claims to have once scored 800 points on one of NBA2K’s basketball predecessors, Double Dribble. So, he says, “It was a natural progression for me to move into making sports video games. An easy, no brainer choice.”

He joined Visual Concepts in 2002 and has seen…