Stephen Curry is at number four while James Harden is at number five in the Sports Illustrated list of top 100 NBA players of 2016 by Sports Illustrated. (Photo : Reuters )
More than a month before the release date, the debate already rages for NBA 2k fans. Will LeBron still be at the top of the player ratings for NBA 2k 16?
After another season ends, basketball fanatics look forward to the NBA 2k16 game. Realism is important for sports simulation games and one of the most important elements for having accurate gameplay is player ratings.
There is always a debate about player ratings and every year, more and more people join the debate. Basketball stats website Nylon Calculus tried their best to simulate how 2k makes their ratings based on the ratings before this year and also actual player stats from the past season.
Admittedly, there were a lot limitations. NC noted that defensive value is very intangible, so the ratings are more focused on offense, and that is reflected in the results. There is also a margin of error (like an over-under) of about 3-4 points:
The Top 5:
LeBron James 91.3 - 95.1
James Harden 92.9 - 95.0
Russell Westbrook 92.9 - 94.9
Chris Paul 89.7 - 91.8
Anthony Davis 88.4 - 94.6
Other notables:
Stephen Curry 88.2 - 90.1
Kevin Durant 84.9 - 87.3
Marc Gasol 81. 8 - 83.5
It's noticeable that James Harden went toe-to-toe with LeBron James and that's reflective of his phenomenal individual season. Also, as mentioned, the defensive weaknesses of Harden hardly made a dent.
In contrast, Marc Gasol, who finished in the top 5 of MVP voting was rated low, primarily because he is still a defensive player more than an offensive player.
It's amazing that guys like Tyreke Evans, Paul Millsap or even his own teammates Zach Randolph and Mike Conley are rated higher than Gasol when there is no doubt that he's the main player for the Memphis Grizzlies.
One major flaw of this system is the failure to adjust for a small sample size. Sim Bhullar is actually rated 83, but the margin of error was wider at 77-89.
Kobe Bryant will always have one of the controversial ratings, is at 79.8 to 81.7.
The debate will resume will continue until the actual results are finally released in September.
