It is NBA 2K25 release day and one of the first things many hoop heads do when loading up the game is check out the player overall ratings, a topic of conversation that litters NBA social circles the entire season as the ratings fluctuate with the season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have enjoyed plenty of high ratings on their current roster, becoming a 99 overall as a team – one of just three teams to accomplish this feat. NBA 2K’s ambassador Ronnie 2K sat down with Thunder on SI to discuss the ratings process.

“We have a formula, it is based on 30-40 mini attributes obviously some are very metrics based like shooting percentages and what not, some that are very mental based like off ball awareness and things like that,” Ronnie 2K Told Thunder on SI “They all get put into a formula and it spits out a number and that number is what the rating is.”

With the new year of ratings, there is a new slew of complaints to sift through for the video game’s ambassador, who realizes it is a badge of honor as these players have grown up with this video game as today marks the release of the 26th installment of NBA 2K.

“There is no subjectivity it is totally in control of the players’ performance year over year, but the funny thing is it creates so much conversation [from players and fans],” Ronnie 2K Told Thunder on SI “The level of conversation [From the players about their ratings] is amazing because it means that they care so much…It is a badge of honor versus their peers and it is another thing they can be competitive about.”

Players are fearlessly competitive about their NBA 2K ratings and Ronnie 2K fields plenty of phone calls from superstars around the league, even Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It will be interesting to see how the ratings of this 2K cycle change throughout the season.

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