The start of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2024-25 season is just around the corner, which means so is the release of the new NBA 2K25 video game. This year’s version of the game is set to hit stores on Sept. 6.
With that being the case, the game has started to unveil some of the players’ ratings. They update the ratings weekly throughout the course of the season, but what a player starts with is always fascinating to see.
They started with the ratings for rookies with Dalton Knecht coming in at a 70 and Bronny James at a 68. Those ratings made sense considering neither has stepped on an NBA floor yet.
Now, they are unveiling the top 100 rated players in this year’s game and Lakers guards Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell both made the cut, being rated an 81 which falls within the 78-98 range, via NBA 2K:
🗣️ The #NBA2KTop100 starts NOW!
Drop your takes on this first group of #NBA2K25 ratings ✍️ pic.twitter.com/0sIWbLXdHt
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) August 19, 2024
Reaves and Russell are both coming off some of the best seasons of their careers so it is good to see them get some love as top 100 players in NBA 2K25.
Playing all 82 games for the Lakers last season, Reaves averaged career-highs across the board with 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 48.6% from the field and 36.7% from 3-point range. He has started to take on more ball-handling and playmaking responsibilities for the Lakers so that usage should only continue to go up.
Meanwhile, Russell was one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA last season, connecting on 41.5% of his shots from deep on 7.2 attempts per game. He averaged 18.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 76 regular season games for the Lakers.
If it were not for another poor postseason for Russell then he likely would have come in at a higher rating than 81, although they at least did not drop him too far down after a stellar regular season.
Considering the Lakers did not make any roster moves this offseason, they will be relying on both Reaves and Russell to replicate their 2023-24 seasons and perhaps even take another step forward if L.A. wants to be in the playoff mix.
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