Victor Wembanyama Now Owns The Highest Rookie 2K Rating In The History Of The Game

Ethan Miller. Getty Images.

If there's one thing every professional athlete seems to care about regardless of the sport they play, it's their video game rating. We see it every summer when the new Madden or 2K games get released. Players QT their rating with some form of emojis/disrespect tweet and fans spend way too much time debating whether someone should be an 82 or an 81. Why it matters so much to players seems weird on the surface, but then you remember the generation they've grown up in. I know in the NBA especially players seem to be overly sensitive about their 2K ratings, and frankly if I had enough talent to be in the league/in 2K I'd probably care about my rating too.

When it comes to Victor Wembanyama, as more and more 2K ratings for this year's game started to come out I was curious just how high the greatest prospect since LeBron would be rated. The answer? 

How about the highest rookie rating in the history of the game

An 84 right from the jump is pretty wild when you remember that LeBron's was a 78 when he came out. Hell, Zion used to own the record seeing as how he was also the most hyped rookie since LeBron, and he came in at an 81. John Wall and Kyrie were also 81s. Someone like Scoot Henderson who is a rookie with a ton of hype as well came in at a 79, which is more understandable. 

Maybe this was all just a marketing ploy to help sell the new version of the game, but you can just add it to the pressure Wemby is going to deal with right from the opening tip of next season. We all saw the reaction after his subpar Summer League debut. The internet ate him alive. Sure he came back in Game 2 and did this

but between his stinker in the opener and then beefing with Briteny stans before being shut down for good out in Vegas, there's certainly a target on his back. Add in the pressure of how he's been talked about for the last few years and now this 2K rating, I'm starting to think he's not going to be able to hide in SA and develop just because it isn't a huge market city. Every single possession he has is going to be dissected and critiqued to an insane level. 

Now granted, this isn't really his fault. Some other 2K ratings you see coming out are rather outrageous as well

so part of me does think there's a marketing angle to all this. It goes viral on Twitter, people are talking about it and the hype builds before the release of the game. 

So who are some other NBA players that come in at 84? There's

- Cade Cunningham

- Jalen Green

- Josh Giddey

- Paolo Banchero

- Rudy Gobert

- Tyler Herro

- Tyrese Maxey

- Dejounte Murray

- CJ McCollum

- Jamal Murray

- Jordan Poole

- Franz Wagner

- Jarrett Allen

- Deandre Ayton

- Nikola Vucevic

- Nic Claxton

Is Wemby as good as the players on this list? Maybe? Who the hell knows given the fact that you know, he hasn't played a real second of NBA basketball yet. That rating has Wemby ahead of guys like Aaron Gordon, FVV, Clint Capela, Kyle Kuzma, Malcolm Brogdon, RJ Barrett, Steven Adams, Andrew Wiggins, DLo, MPJ, Draymond Green, Scottie Barnes etc. I think the Spurs are certainly banking on the dream that Wembanyama will be better than all those guys right away, but it seems a little aggressive to already have that be the case in 2K before he even steps on the floor. 

I imagine things are also going to get out of hand if by some chance once we see him play in real games his rating goes down a little bit during the live updates. So either 2K is setting Wemby up to be endlessly trolled on the internet, or they are ahead of the curve and he really is going to be this undeniable generational talent and 84 will seem low. 

Now if you'd allow me to go on a quick rant before we wrap up, I have just one thing to say when it comes to 2K. Who gives a shit about ratings, just make the game better. Stop making MyCareer mode the worst of all time. In fact, the only thing I truly care about is how you spend all this time in MyCareer or Franchise mode and there still isn't a way to transfer things over to the next year's game. I'm still playing 2K20 because I invested WAY too much time on my Celts franchise to just start over. I only ever buy the new version of the game once the 2K servers stop working and they basically force you to do it. I'd buy it every year without hesitation if I knew the hundreds of hours I've spent on a franchise can be carried over. How is that not a thing in 2023? I'm going to need Ronnie 2K to stop caring so much about clout and find a way to make this happen

If this has really been possible all this time and I'm just a moron who never figured out how to do it, someone please tell me immediately.