Lakers' NBA 2K25 Team Ratings Show That Problems May Be Coming This Season

Jeremy Hanna | Sep 2, 2024

Apr 27, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the fourth quarter in game four of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs against the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports / Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

2024 could be a make-or-break year for the Los Angeles Lakers as star player LeBron James enters his 22nd season in the National Basketball Association.

It's clear that James wants a fifth NBA Championship before he retires, and there are questions regarding whether this current version of the Lakers can make it out of the difficult Western Conference.

And when you look at the Lakers' roster rating in NBA 2K25, it doesn't build confidence.

Currently, the Lakers have two players that are in the top 10 highest-rated players in the game: James and center Anthony Davis, who have a 95 and 94 overall rating respectively. Unfortunately, the team faces a steep drop-off after that.

Point guard Austin Reaves and shooting guard D'Angelo Russell are the next highest-rated players, both boasting an 81 overall rating.

The starting five is rounded out by forward Rui Hachimura, who has a 79 overall rating. Everyone else on the roster falls lower than that, including Bronny James, who has a 68 overall.

Things get even more disheartening when you look at the team's stats. While the Lakers are rated as a Tier 1 team with an 82 overall, specific stats don't reflect that.

While the inside scoring (90), outside scoring (86), and athleticism (88) scores are impressive, defense and rebounding are abysmal. The Lakers have a 64 overall in defense and a shockingly low 56 in rebounding.

These represent the averages of the eight best players on the team. If this is anything to go by, the Lakers are going to have significant struggles defensively, especially facing teams like the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets.

What's also strange is that the Lakers are listed as a Tier 1 with an overall score of 82, but multiple teams with the same or higher overall rating are listed in Tier 2 or Tier 3.

This includes the aforementioned Mavericks (83) and Nuggets (82) as well as the Houston Rockets (82), the Indiana Pacers (83), the New Orleans Pelicans (82), the New York Knicks (83), the Phoenix Suns (83), and the Sacramento Kings (82).

If this is any indication, the 2024-2025 season is going to be even more difficult for Los Angeles than the 2023-2024 season, and they barely made it into the playoffs then.

Then again, this is a video game, and many of the ratings don't make sense. In the end, we won't know how things turn out until the season starts on Oct. 22.

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