Lakers’ Russell Westbrook gets a painfully humbling 2K23 rating
By Jason Reed
A lot changed for the Los Angeles Lakers when the team decided to trade for Russell Westbrook last summer. Los Angeles traded legitimate NBA assets and a first-round pick for Westbrook in a move that was widely criticized at the time.
All of the detractors of the trade ended up being correct, as Westbrook ended up being the biggest thorn in the team’s side last season. Now, the Lakers are in a position where they are actively better if they trade Westbrook but may have already given up on that happening.
The sad part is that Westbrook seemingly still thinks that he is an elite player. He took very little responsibility for the team’s failure in his exit interview last season. Westbrook has a basketball ego that is very hard to break.
Perhaps the folks over at NBA 2K23 can break that ego down a bit, though. Ratings for the upcoming game are starting to come out and Westbrook’s rating is not that of a star player (which he thinks he is). It is that of a rotational bench player.
Russell Westbrook was given an ugly 78 overall rating on NBA 2K23.
Russell Westbrook has the fourth-highest 2K23 rating on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Westbrook is obviously behind both LeBron James and Anthony Davis but he is also behind his newest teammate as well. The folks over at 2K gave Patrick Beverley a 79 overall rating, which is probably fitting for where he is at in his career.
Westbrook, meanwhile, it tied with Kendrick Nunn and is just barely higher than the likes of Thomas Bryant and Lonnie Walker IV. This is a massive fall from grace for Westbrook, but it is completely justified.
Westbrook stans will be outraged by this rating and will point toward his box score as the reason why his rating should probably be in the mid-to-high 80s. Anyone that actually watched Lakers basketball last season knows how misleading that box score is, though, and how poorly Westbrook played last season.
The former MVP has always been a tad overrated when it comes to being a winning player (he has won just one playoff series since Kevin Durant left OKC) but there was never denying his athleticism and skill set. That could as least translate to 2K, even if it did not translate to winning basketball in real life.
Now, Westbrook is not even getting the 2K treatment. Lakers fans won’t just have to watch a disappointing team this season but they don’t even have a fun team to play with on the video game.