The overall ratings for top players in NBA 2K19 are trickling out via social media as we are inside two months until the launch date. LeBron James currently tops the list of best players in the game with a 98 overall (with many including 2018 MVP James Harden yet to be announced), while Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo share the top spot in the East with a 94 overall.
Last year’s trio of star rookies, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and Rookie of the Year winner Ben Simmons, were all given the same rating of an 87 overall. This year’s top rookies also share the same overall rating, as Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic both earned 79 overalls as they enter the league.
We’re still awaiting the rest of the top of this year’s class to have their ratings announced, most interestingly whether Marvin Bagley III receives a 79 or lower given he was the No. 2 pick. Hawks pick Trae Young was taken fifth overall after Atlanta traded Dallas the rights to take Doncic, and when it was revealed on Wednesday that Young would be a 77 overall, two points behind those top rookies, he didn’t take kindly to it.
My whole life I’ve been underrated….
this ain’t nothing new🤷🏽♂️😏😂 #KeepThatSameEnergy pic.twitter.com/dR8gLOJvtR— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) August 8, 2018
A 77 overall is still quite good for a rookie, but Young, as so many athletes do, is taking his rating as a slight and added motivation going into this season. Young is a polarizing prospect, with tremendous upside on the offensive end but plenty of questions about his shot selection and defensive issues as he gets set for his first NBA season.
It’s not a surprise Young doesn’t buy into those questions (and it’s probably best he doesn’t as confidence is a key to his offensive game), but he’ll have to prove on the court that he belongs as a star-caliber player in the NBA. He’ll have that opportunity with the Hawks, who are projected to be the NBA’s worst team and will be turning the keys over to Young to either sink or swim as a rookie.
