No Wizards Crack The Top 65

With less than two weeks to go until the highly anticipated release of NBA 2K25 on September 6, the video game has concluded its day-by-day reveal of the top 100 players in NBA 2K. According to NBA 2K25’s Twitter post, here are the top 10 players who will start the 2024-25 season in NBA 2K25.

Fresh off being voted MVP for the third time in four seasons and rewarded by a hat trick from Steph Curry in the upset win over the United States at the Summer Olympics, Nikola Jokic is the best player in NBA 2K25.

Last season, Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks per game for a Denver Nuggets team that finished 57-25 in the regular season, en route to a second-place finish in the Western Conference. The unicorn big man is a six-time NBA All-Star, six-time All-NBA member, three-time MVP and the 2023 NBA Finals MVP.

For the second consecutive season, Jokic is the highest-rated player in NBA 2K.

Luka Doncic, another European NBA star, joins Jokic at 97th overall, although he ranks a few points behind the Nuggets center in terms of player attributes.

Last season, Doncic averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from three-point range. He scored a career-high 73 points against the Atlanta Hawks.

Doncic has moved from 7th to 2nd place year after year.

The third NBA superstar to earn an overall rating of 97 is Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis played in 73 regular-season games before a left calf injury ended his season and the Bucks’ playoff chances. That said, he put up some incredible numbers in 2023-24.

In his 11th season in the NBA, Giannis became the first player in NBA history He finished the regular season averaging 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. For the second consecutive season, he averaged 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists per game, a standard reached only seven other times in NBA history.

He also set a career-high 64 points in a home win over the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 13. A year ago, with the release of NBA 2K24, Antetokounmpo was the No. 2 ranked player.

Perhaps no one has gained more value in recent seasons than Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game on 53.5 percent shooting. He was runner-up to Jokic in the 2024 MVP voting.

His play helped the Thunder secure the top spot in the tough Western Conference in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Due to his leadership and on-court production last season leading one of the youngest teams in the NBA, Gilgeous-Alexander is rightfully recognized as the fourth-ranked player in NBA 2K25.

Despite only appearing in 39 regular-season games, Embiid still demonstrated his versatility as one of the game’s best big men.

Embiid put up impressive numbers. He averaged 34.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. His best performance came against Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs, where he set a franchise record with 70 points.

The last five players ranked in the top 10 of the NBA 2K25 release are:

So there you have it, the NBA’s elite. Unfortunately for the Washington franchise and its fans, you won’t find a Wizard until you’ve crossed paths with Kyle Kuzma at the bottom, at No. 66.

Are there 65 players in the NBA better than Kuzma? That’s debatable, but that’s how the people at 2K see it.

Last year, Kuzma averaged 22.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He also shot just under 34 percent from three-point range. With numbers like that, on a team where he’s the No. 1, 2 and 3 focal point, ranking him 66th in the NBA seems too low. Still, he and the Wizards only managed 15 wins last season, so it’s hard to defend him.