LeBron James’s New and Old NBA 2K Ratings
NBA 2K18 has released their player ratings for the year. How does LeBron James’ overall rating compare to previous seasons?
The NBA season begins in two months which means the release of NBA 2K18 is right around the corner. The new edition of NBA 2K hits stores on September 18th, and LeBron James will again be a legend on 2k.
Kyrie Irving will grace the cover of this year’s game. He will become the first player to wear the Wine and Gold on the cover, well at least for now.
The new 2K promises to be a good one with the addition of new classic teams, the addition of all-time teams, a revamped MyGM mode, and much more.
Just as the fans are excited about the new game, so are the players. With the excitement comes the annual tradition of players complaining about their overall rating.
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/887333124375490560
https://twitter.com/ZachLaVine/status/897208389884944384
@Ronnie2K @NBA2K #NBA2K18 #2KFirstLook we gonna bump this up when the first updates drop. My ppl still get buckets with me though lol pic.twitter.com/nZsnLJXTPG
— Will Barton (@WillTheThrillB5) August 14, 2017
One player that won’t be complaining about his 2K rating anytime soon is LeBron James. Teammate J.R. Smith said it best by saying that “you couldn’t make a player better than LeBron” in 2K.
LeBron appears to be the highest rated player in 2K for the second year in a row. James Harden and Russell Westbrook’s 2K ratings have not been released yet. They are the only two players who’s ratings could possibly top LeBron’s.
James comes in with a 97 overall rating jumping up one point from last season. This is the fourth time 2K has rated him as 97 overall. The other three times were 2K6, 2K8, and 2K11.
James has also been rated 98 overall five times (NBA 2K7, 2K9, 2K12, 2K13, and 2K15) and 99 overall once (NBA 2K14).
My face says it all haha. Here's the overall rating for @KingJames and I for 17-18 season @NBA2K @Ronnie2K #NBA2K18 #2kFirstLook pic.twitter.com/yuumLI1vdi
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) August 15, 2017
James hasn’t always been one of the highest rated player in 2K. He started his career rated 78 overall and a point guard in the eyes of ESPN NBA Basketball, which for all purposes was NBA 2K4. The game gave him an 85 dunk rating, 55 block rating, 80 passing rating, and a 70 three-point rating.
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The developers at 2K quickly boosted LeBron’s ratings in 2K5 to 88 overall. They also correctly changed him from a point guard to a small forward. Notable individual rating increases included his dunk rating jumping to 95 and his passer rating jumping to 85.
Here is a complete list of all of LeBron’s 2K overall ratings through the years.
- 2K4 – 78 overall
- 2K5 – 88 overall
- 2K6 – 97 overall
- 2K7 – 98 overall
- 2K8 – 97 overall
- 2K9 – 98 overall
- 2K10 – 96 overall
- 2K11 – 97 overall
- 2K12 – 98 overall
- 2K13 – 98 overall
- 2K14 – 99 overall and cover player.
- 2K15 – 98 overall
- 2K16 – 94 overall
- 2K17 – 96 overall
- 2K18 – 97 overall
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The days of seeing LeBron rated 98 or 99 overall are probably past, but he still remains king of the virtual hardwood. We’ll see if LeBron can hold on to a top spot as the updates occur throughout the season.