National Basketball Association

LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young quick to react to 'NBA 2K' ratings

Published Aug. 18, 2021 7:46 p.m. ET

It happens annually.

The player ratings for "NBA 2K" were released on Wednesday, and a handful of the game's superstars aren't holding back when it comes to where they and their peers landed on the highly anticipated list.

While the newest edition of the beloved video game doesn't come out until September, fans are getting their first look at the players' overall rankings ahead of the release.

LeBron James, Kevin Durant, reigning NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steph Curry lead the way with a rating of 96 overall, followed by Kawhi Leonard at 95. Leonard squeezes by reigning MVP Nikola Jokić to round out the top five.

Once again, James, who has been rated 96 or higher in 16 of his 19 seasons, took the No. 1 spot, after the 17-time All-Star averaged 25 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game in the 2020-21 regular season.

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It's unclear what James thinks about his rating, which went down one point from both "NBA 2K20" and last year's "NBA 2K21" (97), but he offered some insight on what he thinks about his two fellow All-Stars — and it's not what you might think.

First, James isn't rocking with Durant's 96 overall rating, sharing on social media that he thinks the Brooklyn Nets' superstar should be rated near perfect.

James isn't the only one who thinks so.

On Tuesday, Durant took to social media to share why he thinks he deserves a higher rating.

"I work extremely hard. I can make shots from all over the floor," he said with a smile. "… I think I'm a great passer, great rebounder. Yeah, pretty much everything great. That's why I should be a 99."

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The two-time NBA champion Durant is arguably the world's best player. He had a spectacular season last year, averaging 26.9 points per game in the regular season after a devastating Achilles injury sidelined him for the 2019-20 season. His efforts led the Nets to the conference semifinals, in which they narrowly lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in a thrilling Game 7.

James also said Golden State Warriors superstar Curry was deserving of a 99 score.

Curry earned the scoring title for the 2020-21 season, averaging 32 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists while shooting an impressive 48.2% from the floor and 42.1% from 3-point range.

In NBA 2K's defense, Curry did take the No. 1 spot on the 3-point shooters' list, with a rating of 99.

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But while James was spreading the 2K love, not everyone was happy with where the chips fell.

On Wednesday, Tatum's reaction to hearing his rating was caught on camera, and the 23-year-old Boston Celtics frontman, who predicted himself at 92, had thoughts about his 90 rating.

"Oh, my God. I don't know how we keep going backward," he said with an eye roll. "I scored 50 [points] in the playoffs, twice … Tied Larry Bird's record, [averaged] 27 [points] a night.

"[But] I'm up for a challenge," he added. "It's a 95 by the end of the season."

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Tatum tied Bird's franchise single-game scoring record with 60 points in Boston's 143-140 overtime victory over the San Antonio Spurs on April 30, the third-biggest comeback in NBA history. He also averaged 7.4 rebounds, good for 10th in the league.

Then there's Atlanta Hawks rising superstar Young, who took to social media shortly after the ratings were released to share his presumable discontent with his overall rating of 89 — a mere two-point boost from last year.

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The 22-year-old "Ice Trae" was at the helm for the Hawks’ recent playoff run, as the squad defeated the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2014. He averaged 25.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 9.4 assists — second only to Russell Westbrook's 11.7 — last season.

Was NBA 2K unfair?

Again, this happens annually.

The 2021-22 season is set to begin Oct. 19, so these stars will have plenty of opportunities to update their ratings — for better or worse — when they return to the court in two months' time.

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