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It’s a little overdue, but the floodgates of NBA 2K22 information should be coming.
On Wednesday morning and afternoon, the 2K social media accounts began to pepper their follower’s timelines with “First Look” images of top NBA stars in the upcoming game along with their ratings and Top-10 rankings for overall, three-point shooting and dunking.
The NBA 2K22 Ratings Revealed
If you have been on social media, keeping up with 2K’s ratings drops might have been as difficult as staying in front of Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving off the dribble.
Thankfully, Twitter’s timeline doesn’t disappear into thin air like Irving if you missed him the first time.
Early in the process, we saw the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks get their due respect as Giannis Antetokounmpo (96) and the champs’ Olympic Gold medalists Khris Middleton (88) and Jrue Holiday (85) got their ratings.
What a year for this trio.
One of the NBA 2K22 Legend Edition cover athletes, Nets star Kevin Durant comes in at the same overall rating as Antetokounmpo. Durant was perhaps a toe short of replacing Antetokounmpo in the tweet above, and perhaps had he been able to lead the Nets to the title, he would be the highest-rated player in the game.
As it stands, he’s in a four-way tie.
The official NBA 2K22 cover athlete Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic checks in with a 95 overall. I wonder if this would have been any different if Doncic and Slovenia had medaled in the Olympics? We’ll never know.
Let’s not forget Steph Curry, whom we blended with LeBron James in a modded version of NBA 2K21, in case you’re interested.
Curry and the depleted Warriors made it scary for the Los Angeles Lakers in the Play-In Tournament, but couldn’t get it done. In any case, the greatest shooter that ever lived and one of the best point guards in history is tied for the highest individual rating.
The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic won MVP last season, but 2K got it right. He still shouldn’t be rated above guys like Durant, Antetokounmpo, James or Curry. Jokic has very few weaknesses to his game, but we may need a little more before he’s the highest-rated player overall.
It’s Dame time and the Portland Trail Blazers star comes in rated 94 overall.
The NBA’s reigning Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball got an awesome new scan. His render is the most impressive we’ve seen as of yet, and he’s rightfully an 84 overall after a strong rookie season.
Another Olympic gold medalist, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum checks in as a 90 overall. He’d met with 2K’s Ronnie Singh to unveil his rating in the video below.
Thankfully, Chicago Bulls star and another Olympic gold medalist, Zach LaVine gets a little bit of a bump in overall rating. He’s an 87, which is three points higher than LaMelo Ball, his new teammate’s little brother. I always thought it a little insulting that LaVine wasn’t rated higher than Ball at points last year.
To start the 2021-22 season, LaVine will have a significant edge.
First-time NBA All-Star Zion Williamson is rated above LaVine, which I find a little strange. Neither player led their team to the postseason, and they do play different positions. However, LaVine was superior to Williamson in every major statistical category besides field goal percentage and blocked shots, both of which will usually favor a forward over a guard, and steals. The difference in the last two categories was .010.
I cram to understand Williamson’s two-point edge.
Trae Young’s render, or perhaps the posing of the model looks strange. You could also make the argument he deserves a rating that is a little closer to Doncic. Both men play high-usage and sometimes low-efficiency styles because of their less-than-stellar three-point shooting percentages.
Still, they are similar volume scorers who pile up the assists alongside the points.
2K also revealed the Top-5 rated WNBA players and that includes Chicago Sky star Candace Parker, who is also the cover athlete for the WNBA 25th Anniversary Edition.
Parker is rated a 93 overall.
Here are the Top-10 rated players overall as well as the highest-rated dunkers and three-point shooters.
What’s Happening With Some of These Images?
While there are some strong renders in the media 2K has released, some have left me scratching my head. The Durant pose seems to expose a model with disproportionate shoulders and a neck fit for another man’s frame.
The Parker image looks dark and dreary. Trae Young’s complexion and face contouring looks off and I can’t figure out what Curry is doing in his image. In the grand scheme of things, these missteps aren’t a the biggest deal. However, with such little information released, and with it coming so close to the release date, it would have been ideal for all of the images to shine the player models in the best light.
Also Read:
- NBA 2K: LeBron James-Steph Curry Mashup is Oddly Perfect
- NBA 2K22 Soundtrack to Allow Gamers to Make Their Own Music
- NBA 2K22: Features and First Screenshots Revealed [LOOK]
- NBA 2K22: Release Date, Cover Athletes, 75th Anniversary Edition Info
- NBA 2K22 Needs To Steal Madden 22’s Newest Feature