Getty Grant Williams, Boston Celtics
NBA 2K ratings are always a point of contention for NBA players, with many of them feeling disrespected when the game is released each year – and Grant Williams is no different.
On September 7, the Boston Celtics three-and-d wing took to Twitter to share his displeasure, noting that 2K continued to ‘disrespect him’ by giving him a 75 overall rating – lower than third-string point guard Payton Pritchard.
Given that Williams was one of Boston’s most consistent performers last season, showing a notable improvement in his three-point shooting, his argument may be valid. In fact, throughout the regular season, Williams averaged 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 41.1% from deep and 56.9% from two-point range. The Texas natives shooting splits remained fairly consistent throughout the post-season too, with Williams hitting 39.3% of his threes and 49.2% of his inside looks.
Jaylen Brown Shares His Unhappiness With 2K Rating
Grant Williams isn’t the only member of the Celtics roster that feels disrespected with his latest rating on NBA 2K, with star wing Jaylen Brown also taking to Twitter to inform the game franchise to stop playing with me.
@NBA2K stop playing with me
According to Brian Robb of Masslive.com Brown’s latest rating is set to start at 87, making him the second-highest rated player on the roster, behind only Jayson Tatum who is ranked at 93. However, given Brown’s heroics during the NBA Finals, and his scoring improvement across the board, he has every right to feel aggrieved with his current rating from the 2K franchise.
When facing the Golden State Warriors, Brown averaged a team-best of 23.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 34% from three-point range and 43.1% from the field.
Furthermore, Brown has endured a difficult summer, with his name being thrown around in trade rumors linking him with a potential move to the Brooklyn Nets in return for Kevin Durant – so 2K could have done him a solid by giving him a rating more befitting a player of his caliber – because an 87 overall player is not the type of talent that would be a headliner in a blockbuster trade for a superstar!
Full Celtics 2K Ratings Have Been Released
As we draw closer to NBA 2K’s September 9 release date, player ratings are starting to be released with increased pace, and on September 7 we finally got our first look at how they’ve ranked the primary player within the Celtics rotation.
- Jayson Tatum – 93
- Jaylen Brown – 87
- Robert Williams – 85
- Malcolm Brogdon – 83
- Al Horford – 82
- Marcus Smart – 82
- Derrick White – 79
- Danilo Gallinari – 78
- Payton Pritchard – 77
- Grant Williams – 75
- Sam Hauser – 70
- Luke Kornet – 70
- Mfiondu Kabengele – 70
- JD Davison – TBD
2K Marketing is genius!
Rank players low – they react on social – free press.
It’s also worth remembering that as the year goes on, they up most players’ ratings – so they have to start lower than their true skill level to give themselves scope to improve their rating later
For a Celtics team that is expected to be one of the premier teams in the NBA this season, a lot of these rankings seem a little low. However, the 2K marketing team are borderline geniuses, as they know that by ranking players below their true skill level, the players will take to social media and react – thus driving the promotion of the coming game.
Finally, it’s worth remembering that 2K updates player ratings as the season progresses, and in order to make that work efficiently, they have to give players a lower starting point so there’s scope to improve their statistics throughout the year. Still, that doesn’t stop disgruntled players from airing their grievances at this time every year.