Tuesday, 2K Sports released its player ratings for the upcoming release of NBA 2K23 (headlined by cover athlete Devin Booker), which hits shelves later this week. The stat-crunchers at 2K Sports would be the first to admit their rating system isn’t an exact science, though that didn’t stop players from feeling slighted, including Warriors All-Star Klay Thompson, who took exception to his suspiciously-low three-point rating, finishing 11 points behind teammate Stephen Curry.
Thompson has been known to take things personally, reacting in similar fashion after being snubbed from the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team last fall. Coming back from an almost three-year injury absence following longer than expected recoveries from Achilles and ACL surgeries, Thompson averaged a respectable 20.4 points per game last season, but shot a career-worst 38.5 percent from downtown. As a result, his three-point rating plummeted from 95 to 88, putting him on even footing with Luke Kennard and Desmond Bane, among other members of the 88 fraternity.
For most players, sharing a rating with Kevin Durant (who also lashed out at 2K for what he perceived as a “laughable” 96 overall) would be a cause for celebration. There’s also no shame in inhabiting the same sphere as Kennard, a quietly phenomenal shooter who sunk a league-best 44.9 percent of his threes last season (Bane was second at 43.6). But apparently that’s not exclusive enough company for Thompson, who resents being labeled a mere “great” shooter, feeling his list of accolades (four championships, five All-Star nods) entitles him to a higher status.
Gripes like these have become an annual rite of passage in the NBA with few, if anyone, truly satisfied by their rating. It's a testament to both how sensitive athletes have become, obsessively responding to every critic they encounter on social media, and the irrational confidence they display, believing wholeheartedly in their ability while rarely, if ever, acknowledging a shortcoming. This defiant “me against the world” mentality, of course, is part of what makes Thompson great, playing with a constant chip on his shoulder, scouring high and low for any doubter that might provide bulletin-board material.
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