Here's EA's official statement on the name change: "We knew it was time to leave the past behind. We have exciting and significant changes coming to our NBA game this year that will usher in the future of basketball videogames. We look forward to releasing information on exactly how we'll be doing that over the next few months."
Kotaku is reporting (via the latest issue of OXM) not only the name change, but that there's an entirely new direction for the mechanics of EA Sports' NBA series as well. According to the latest issue of OXM, ""If the left stick is your body, then the right stick serves as your hands and the ball. Bouncing the ball behind our back, for instance, required rolling the stick down and around - the same movement our hands would make to pull off the trick."
Sounds a whole lot like the treatment that has been given to NHL in years past, not to mention Skate, Fight Night and myriad other sports titles outside of the EA Sports label. Rest assured, we'll have a lot more info once E3 rolls around in mid-June. Stay tuned to IGN for more on this interesting development.