Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE
Kevin Durant cemented himself as the second-best player in the league this past season right behind LeBron James. He finished second in the MVP voting behind LeBron then finished second as a team when the Oklahoma City Thunder lost in the NBA Finals to the Miami Heat.
Durant did beat LeBron in one sense making the cover of NBA 2K13Â along with Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin. NBA 2K13 wanted to focus on the future of the league as opposed to its past like it has done with the last two installments. That is perhaps why Durant got the nod for the cover over someone like LeBron.
Durant’s overall rating was revealed during the 2K Sports NBA 2K13 live stream interview with Ronnie Singh. Durant received a 95 overall, three points higher than the 92 he got at the start of last season.
This is probably a fair number for Durant. While he is the second-best player in the NBA, you can make the case for him having this low of a number. His defensive ratings will still not be too high and his passing rating will also be a little low.
LeBron will likely receive the 98 overall he has been getting or possibly even a 99 overall rating. After the way he played this past season and especially in the playoffs, a 99 is probably deserving.
The real question is if there will be anyone rated above Durant besides LeBron. In recent years, there has been a few players rated above 95 along with LeBron. Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant have been among the players being rated that high.
Wade and Kobe should dip under that plateau for NBA 2K13 though and definitely should not be rated as highly as Durant. Chris Paul is maybe the only player that should be rated higher than Durant is.
One thing is for sure though and that is that Durant will be unstoppable to play with in the game. He already pretty much has been in past years but he’s really reaching a point now where he is becoming the ultimate video game basketball player.
His height and length is always an asset and his ability to shoot from long range makes him pretty unfair. Expect ratings in the mid-to-high 90s for his midrange jumper.
The overall rating is not always the most important thing. Last year, Dirk Nowitzki received an 85 overall rating but was still unstoppable because he had a 99 midrange rating.
Russell Westbrook and James Harden should get a lot of love from 2K Sports this year as well. Westbrook will be as quick as any player in the game and will also have a very high midrange rating which will make him unstoppable. Harden’s beard length will certainly be more accurate in NBA 2K13 and his ability to finish at the rim with the euro-step will hopefully be unstoppable as well.
Serge Ibaka should be graced with a 99 shot blocking rating after averaging more blocks per game than anyone since the 2001-02 season. Expect Perry Jones to get a nice rookie rating as well, possibly 71 or around that.
Andrew Kennedy is the lead editor of Thunderous Intentions and Director of the FanSided NBA Division. Also 'Like' Thunderous Intentions on Facebook. Â
Tags: Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Miami Heat, NBA 2K13, NBA Finals, oklahoma city thunder, popular, rating, Russell Westbrook
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