NBA Ballers: Phenom is the sequel to NBA Ballers and is a continuation of the Midway NBA series started in 1994 with NBA Jam. The objective of the game is to best your opponent in rounds of street basketball. The game is broken up into many modes, including a full story mode, versus and practice modes. Players have the option to play as one of many NBA players, or create their own character to take through story mode, with the game's Create-A-Baller mode.

The plot of story mode follows you, a young gun trying to make a break into the big leagues of street ball and your one time friend, Hot Sauce. Hot Sauce betrayed you, and stole your girlfriend, taking his fame and fortune to the top of the leagues. Now it's up to you to win it all, and take back your pride and your game.

The game features celebrities such as Hot Sauce, Ludacris, Trikz, Jin, and Chingy. The players' looks can be fully customized.