that's actually pretty similar to my story. As a European, I played the fifa games since I was like 4, but I started to get into american sports around 2009/10 when I was like 13/14 which got me hooked onto games like 2K11, the show and madden. But I didn't have the money at the time to play ultimate team or NBA 2k equivalent (I cant remember the name). So I mostly just played the franchise modes in them games for years (I loved the team building and as a newer fan it was an easy way for me to get to know all the players). I think it was like 2016 when I first found OOTP and the depth of it changed how I viewed the franchise modes in other games. I then just played franchise modes on console for the gameplay and OOTP and FM for the in-depth fun. Hoping to find an equivalent for basketball.