Earlier this month, 2K Games released NBA 2K25, the latest installment of the long-running franchise, and as is the case with every iteration, fans, analysts, and players complained about ratings. Kevin Garnett also joined in on the tradition, voicing his frustration about Kevin Durant’s rating.
The Hall of Famer shared the Suns superstar’s rant about his 2K25 rating of 94 and agreed with the veteran forward that he deserved to be one of the highest-rated players in the game. He shared a clip of Durant complaining about his rating on an episode of Boardroom Talks and captioned it,
“Hey 2k, y’all hella bogusssshh for tat bro is a walking bucket!! Frfrat least a 97.. tf… get it right “
Last week, Durant told Jets cornerback Sauce Gardener on Boardroom Talks that he was upset about being only the ninth-highest player in the game. He voiced his displeasure about being rated lower than Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and LeBron James. The two-time Finals MVP said,
“I’m sick of this s**t. That’s crazy though, I’m a 94 though. Like for real though, that’s crazy.”
Some fans agreed with Durant, especially about Tatum having a higher overall rating of 95. The Celtics superstar edged Durant in terms of athleticism with a rating of 85 compared to the Suns forward’s 82. The ratings of his attributes totaled to 3,135, slightly higher than former MVP’s 3,081. Durant wasn’t the only player who called out 2K.
Dwight Howard flamed 2K for poor scan and underwhelming rating
Last month, three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard called out 2K on X. He complained about his face scan and was perplexed about why his prime version was rated 93 in the latest edition when his 2013 version was rated 96. He wrote,
“Man don’t none of those look like me and they had me at a 93 in 09 and a 96 in 2013 that’s how you know these ratings ain’t accurate.”
Man don’t none of those look like me and they had me at a 93 in 09 and a 96 in 2013 that’s how you know these ratings ain’t accurate pic.twitter.com/p4cGikEayG
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) August 21, 2024
Fans and players often complain about the randomness of 2K ratings. However, during an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show, the company’s Digital Marketing Director, Ronnie Singh, better known as Ronnie 2K, explained that they follow an intricate process to assign ratings. He said,
“There’s 30 some odd mini attributes some of them are absolutely based on core performances like inside shot, free throw percentage, all of that can be easily translated into a formula. Then there is some stuff off-court like awareness, IQ, things that are a little bit less tangible, that’s thrown into a formulate and it spits out a number.”
Despite the company’s best efforts, the complaints will persist as they are a byproduct of opinion, which differs from person to person.