With the NBA season just around the corner, 2K Sports is set to release its new video game, NBA 2K17, on Sept. 20. There are two editions of the game, the Legends Edition which will feature former Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant on the cover and the standard edition which will feature Indiana Pacers forward Paul George as the cover athlete.
A few Lakers players have already released their rating for the game, as D’Angelo Russell is currently the highest at 79 rating, followed by Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle who are both 77’s and Larry Nance who comes in at 75. Russell finished last season as a 77.
While the game is surely done as the release date is less than a month away, 2K Sports is still having athletes into their studio to motion capture players. The most recent players to do so were the first two picks from the 2015 NBA Draft, Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Russell, via NBA 2K’s official Twitter account:
Look who's joining us for motion capture today. @dloading & @karltowns #ThisIsNotAGame https://t.co/20ZoQ9Eogs pic.twitter.com/8qCHi6Fvqw
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) August 30, 2016
The two players, who were wired from head to toe, played a one-on-one game while their motions were being captured for NBA 2K17:
Mocap 1 on 1 between @KarlTowns & @Dloading #NBA2K17 https://t.co/jZlTPNWhNJ
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) August 30, 2016
Russell, who will certainly to be the team’s starting point guard this season, turned heads in Las Vegas during the Summer League, averaging 22.7 points, 4.0 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game through the team’s first three games.
Towns averaged a double-double in his rookie season, helping him earn the NBA Rookie of the Year award. He led all rookies in scoring at 18.3 points per game while grabbing 10.5 rebounds.