Just for some updated information: this is with every player, not just Dwight Howard. I've tried Steph, LBJ, Kyrie, AD, and all of them do this. When playing in practice mode in MyLeague, even the ball handler slows down for no reason like this and begins acting really glitchy. I thought for a moment it could be the body sensitivity being too high. So I brought that down to 0. Still doing this. As mentioned earlier, there are times where he'll stop like he's doing in the first video in that pseudo defensive stance and not move at all no matter how hard I push up on the left stick.
I have already updated my controller driver, I have reset my controller layout, I turned off the auto defense and auto block out and it plays exactly like this now in everything on the game. I've changed the sliders to default and it still is doing this. I verified my 2K files through Steam to make sure something didn't get jumbled up, and none of this has worked.
I have read in a few places that other 2Ks have experienced this issue, mostly after the lifespan of the game ran out or when 2K updates something. Links to one post about that which covers more than any other:
https://forums.operationsports.com/forums/nba-2k-basketball/859283-anyone-having-issues-their-controllers-player-not-responsive-4.htmlTo quote one user: "...But I also want to mention that there were multiple instances where fully pushing the analog stick down (broadcast view) made my player walk or jog very lightly as oppose to running."
And another from that thread: "I've had this problem since 2K15 offline as well as online. It's really annoying and most noticeable on defense. It's become unbearable in the Park. I didn't have this problem initially with 2K16, but it has returned. I thought I was the only one with this issue. A ton of input lag when using the left analog stick. There is a delay when I change directions. And I've tried multiple controllers--wired as well as wireless."
I don't want to start a conspiracy theory, but it seems to happen most after 2K updates and particularly more frequent on older 2Ks. Now on my Steam, it doesn't have anything on the product update page. It just seems very strange that everything is now doing this while earlier yesterday everything worked fine. Maybe this is all coincidence and I'm just salty cause the game is now very hard to play. Hopefully, someone has a fix for this.