After playing both games for the weekend, I'd still have to say the crown still belongs to ESPN. If you are looking for an "arcade", easy learning curve game, then Live is for you. Otherwise, ESPN brings more to the table in respect to strategy and having to run plays in order to be successful in franchise mode. You won't be successful in ESPN as you would in Live playing the same repetetive ISO plays and scoring with the same old dunk animations.
Another annoying thing about Live is that you can NEVER run a fast break. By the time you get down court, the AI of your opponent always gets back. Whats even more unrealistic is that when you actually do get down to run a fast break, your teammates run out to the three point line instead of towards the basket - totally lacking basketball fundamentals.