NBA 2k released Jayson Tatum's highly controversial overall player rating


With just over a month left before the new installment of the NBA 2k series hits video game consoles, the most important thing on every gamer's mind these days is their favorite player's overall 2k rating. Now it's not just gamers who care, but it's the players themselves who've been very vocal this summer about their ratings. With a new group of young rookies, in a very talented draft class, it seems everyone wants to know what their rating is. Jayson Tatum, who the Boston Celtics drafted as the third overall pick, is no exception in wanting to know. Tatum even took a page out of teammate Isaiah Thomas' social media handbook when responding to a post by 2k Games' Ronnie 2k via Twitter this past week.




Jayson was the last of the top three draft picks, from the 2017 NBA Draft, to have his 2k player rating released. The number one overall pick Markelle Fultz was the first, with an overall rating of 80, becoming NBA 2k's highest rated rookie ever prior to launch. This release prompted basketball fans who watched the summer league to take to social media, firing tweet after tweet requesting ratings of more players. Among the most popular names thrown around, it wasn't long before Lonzo Ball's rating of 80 was made public.


Tied with Fultz, as much as I hate to say this, I thought the rating was justified. Ball was drafted number two overall and did have a great summer league, even though one could question, do triple-doubles even count if you lose? At this point I felt pretty confident that Tatum was going to follow suit, especially after his exceptional summer league performance. However, I was wrong and this wasn't the case as Jayson's player rating is only a 77 overall.


In the past, rookie ratings in 2k have mostly been based off of their draft order initially and their college stats secondary. With the growing popularity of NBA Summer League due to national TV broadcasting the games, it's apparent that this is now a huge contributing factor as reflected in Lonzo's rating. Tatum's post on Twitter was smart about it, probably questioning the rating himself, he put it in the hands of Celtics fans.



Going through the comments, you can see it's pretty obvious that there is a strong disagreement with the ratings of this years top rookies. In games against both Markelle and Lonzo during summer league, Tatum clearly was the better player and the Celtics won those games. The biggest issue most people seemed to have was with the rating of the fourth overall pick, Josh Jackson. Even though he was drafted after Jayson, Jackson's rating is a 78, which is shockingly higher than Tatum's.


There's no doubt Josh is an excellent basketball player, his summer league play speaks for itself, but Jayson had the better display of skills. The stats were very close for each player, as they both almost averaged a double-double with points and rebounds. Tatum separated himself a little, averaging 18.2 points per game, shooting .445 from the field, compared to Jackson's 17.4 points per game, while shooting .425 from the field.


Even in college, both Jayson and Josh had almost identical stats, the only considerable difference being Tatum is substantially better from the free-throw line. A response to Tatum from Fantasy Leatherheads on Twitter actually made me laugh out loud, and I soon discovered they weren't the only ones who felt this way.



As far as Fultz goes, he was a baller in college and his stats prove it. Markelle was the first pick in the draft, and to his defense, he did get hurt in summer league so his play was very limited. Personally, I don't have any problem with his NBA 2k18 player rating, Fultz definitely deserves it. The issue for me is with Ball's rating, which doesn't make any sense based on simple mathematics. It just so happens a lot of people representing 2k are huge fans of the Los Angeles Lakers, and recently they announced that Big Baller Brand is officially coming to NBA 2k18. Jayson is a scorer and Lonzo is passer, both of which are important roles in basketball. The question you have to ask yourself is, how do these styles of play equate differently in their overall ratings?




During summer league Tatum lead Ball in almost every stat line per game, with Lonzo's only real advantage being assists. When it came to the heads up battle, Jayson was clearly the victor, winning both the game and on paper. In college, Tatum averaged 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game; Ball averaged 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game. You can argue roles and positions either way, but in the end the stats are pretty close. I'm not saying Jayson needs to have a higher rating than Ball, yet, but there's no reason why they're not equal. Ask yourself this question, who wins one-on-one, Lonzo or Tatum?


Want to read more about the Celtics' rookie? I'm not the only one who has high expectations and think he's going to do well, SI names Jayson Tatum 'Most Likely to Succeed' from rookie class.


Photo credits: NBA2k.com



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