Every year, millions of basketball fans await the new edition of NBA 2K. From slight upgrades to the MyTeam mode to a whole new storyline for your MyPlayer — there are countless hours of basketball joy to be had in each new release.
However, nothing sparks debate quite like the days leading up to release day, as 2K begin to drip-feed us with their latest player rankings. Usually, we will see a handful of players be ranked in the mid-to-high 90’s, cementing their status among the league’s elite, and from there, we see a cascading of skills throughout each roster.
Of course, not every player is happy with their 2K rating, and many of them take to Twitter to share their shock and/or displeasure. But, for the most part, it’s all in good fun.
With 2k23 scheduled to drop today, we’ve finally got our first glimpse of how the Celtics roster is going to shape up on the game, and outside of Jayson Tatum, there are some questionable ratings throughout the squad.
The full rankings look like this:
Jayson Tatum – 93
Jaylen Brown – 87
Robert Williams – 85
Malcolm Brogdon – 82
Al Horford – 82
Marcus Smart – 82
Derrick White – 78
Danilo Gallinari – 78
Grant Williams – 77
Payton Pritchard – 76
Sam Hauser – 71
Luke Kornet – 70
Mfiondu Kabengele – 70
JD Davison – TBD
The biggest shock was with Grant Williams, who finds himself as one of the lowest-rated members of Boston’s regular rotation, despite embarking on an impressive breakout season where he proved himself to be one of the best young 3-and-D wings in the NBA. So, for Williams to be rated just a point higher than Payton Pritchard — a guard who struggled for consistent playing time — is indeed somewhat of a snub.
Let’s be fair though: ranking players lower than their actual skill level deserves is nothing short of marketing genius, as players generally take to social media to air out their grievances or poke fun at each other, all of which is essentially free marketing for 2K. And for those of you that are diehard 2K fans, you will know that these ratings don’t stay at their current level for long, as the game is constantly updating to reflect players’ true skill levels throughout the season.
