Frequently asked questions

The eight things people actually ask, answered straight. If yours is not here, the contact page reaches the person who built the game.

Start an auction

Is it free, and do I need an account?

It is free and there is no account. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for, nothing to buy. The site carries advertising to cover hosting, and that is the whole business model. Because there are no accounts there is also no personal data to lose — the privacy policy sets out exactly what is and is not collected.

Why is my favourite player rated lower than I expect?

Because nobody typed the number in. Every rating is computed from public per-game statistics: scored against the rest of that player's own season so a 1962 line and a 2026 line can share a scale, then weighted by role with an impact anchor. On the all-time scale an accolades pillar is added as well, because pure box-score metrics produce an all-time list basketball fans reject on sight.

That makes a low rating a claim about a method rather than an opinion, which is the whole point — you can argue with it precisely. How the ratings work is the long version, and the contact page lists what to include if you want a number looked at.

Can I play against a friend?

Three ways, none of which need an account:

• Start a room and send the six-character code to whoever you intend to beat.
• Join with a code somebody sent you.
• Find an opponent and take whoever is already waiting.

You can also play two people on one device, passing it back and forth as lots close, or play the computer at one of four difficulties. It never gets extra money — only better judgement.

How long does a game take?

About five minutes. Ten lots, ten seconds on the clock for each, and any bid resets that clock — so a contested lot runs longer than a quiet one. When both rosters are full the simulated game runs immediately and gives you a card worth screenshotting.

Why do I choose the position after winning a player, not before?

Deciding where a man plays while a clock is running asks two questions at once — what is he worth, and where does he go — when only the first one is urgent. So the hammer settles the price, and the roster question waits for a moment with no clock on it.

It also makes flexible players genuinely valuable: somebody who covers two positions lets you leave a hole open longer, which is worth real money late in a sale. That effect is explained in how players are priced.

Is the simulated result a prediction about a real game?

No, and it is worth being blunt about this. It is a possession-level model built from rating and team fit, and it exists to settle an argument between two rosters somebody just bought. It says nothing about what would happen on a real court. It is not betting advice and there is nothing to stake.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Below a certain width the board reflows so the lot leads and the two squads pair underneath it, and the bid controls leave the page flow to sit on the bottom edge where a thumb already is. A control you have to scroll to find is useless when ten seconds are running, so nothing is hidden to make a small screen fit — the layout gets denser instead.

Where do the player photographs come from?

Creative Commons images from Wikimedia Commons, covering roughly two thirds of the pool. Each photograph carries its author and licence on the card it appears on. That credit is a licence obligation rather than a design choice and will not be removed. No NBA or Basketball Reference imagery is used anywhere on this site, and the project has no affiliation with either.