NBA 2K27 Ratings: Our Top 10 Re-Rated, and Why LeBron Is Not a 91

NBA 2K finished its Top 100 countdown this morning with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at No. 1, and the full NBA 2K27 player ratings are now out. So we did the obvious thing: we re-rated the top 10 ourselves. Every 2K reveal is below, card by card, with our number next to theirs so you can see exactly where we split.

First, what 2K actually did. Three players share the top rating at 97, Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic, and nobody reached 98, let alone the 99 that used to get handed out before a season. Then 2K stacked six players inside a two-point band from 97 down to 96, which is the real problem with their list. When the top six are functionally identical, the ranking stops saying anything.

Ours says something. Nikola Jokic comes down a point, Giannis Antetokounmpo loses two, Kevin Durant and Cade Cunningham fall out of the top 10 entirely, and Tyrese Maxey climbs six spots to get in. And just outside the ten sits the rating we would change more than any other in the game: 2K has LeBron James at 91 in his first year as a 76er, and we have him at 87. More on that below.

Here is the NBA 2K27 top 10, re-rated and counted down.

10. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics · Our Rating: 91

2K says 93, and ranked him 12th. We say 91, and he makes our ten.

Tatum did not get a top-10 card from 2K. He landed 12th, inside the 20-through-11 group above. We have him tenth, and we still cut the number by two, which sounds contradictory until you look at what happened to Boston. The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia this summer and got Paul George back, which leaves Tatum carrying an offense with nothing like the second option he had. A 93 is a rating for a guy on a contender. He makes our ten because the floor is still enormous. He is tenth because everything around him got worse.

9. Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers · Our Rating: 91

2K says 92, and ranked him 15th. We say 91, and he is our No. 9.

Maxey is the other player in that 20-through-11 group we are pulling up. Six spots, and the number barely moves, because the ranking is the point. Maxey is going to have a monster year. Philadelphia added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown around him and the entire league is going to spend the season talking about that roster, but Maxey is the one who actually has the ball, and the Sixers are his team in a way the names above him on 2K's list do not change. A 92 that finishes 15th is 2K hedging. We would rather be early.

8. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors · Our Rating: 93

2K says 93, ranked 9th. We say 93, ranked 8th.

The number is right. Curry is 38 and still the most gravitational shooter alive, which is a skill that does not decay the way athleticism does, and Golden State brought Jimmy Butler back in rather than blowing the thing up. There is no version of a healthy Curry who is not a top-10 player, and 93 prices that correctly. We move him up one spot and leave the rating alone.

7. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Miami Heat · Our Rating: 94

2K says 96, ranked 6th. We say 94, ranked 7th.

The biggest gap between our board and theirs. Giannis is in a Miami Heat jersey now after the Bucks moved him on the eve of the draft, and 96 feels like a number assigned to the idea of Giannis rather than to a 31-year-old forward starting over in a new system. He is still a nightmare in the paint. He is also entering the first season of his career where the roster around him has not been built for him, and the jump shot never arrived. Ninety-four is not a downgrade of the player. It is an honest read on the year in front of him.

And this is where the board falls off. After Giannis there is a real drop, which is the thing 2K's compressed 96-to-97 tier hides completely.

6. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves · Our Rating: 95

2K says 95, ranked 7th. We say 95, ranked 6th.

We take the number and move the man. 2K has Edwards behind Giannis. We have him ahead. Edwards is 25, he has been the best player on a conference finalist, and he is the rare young star whose game has kept adding rather than just getting more efficient. Minnesota also added LaMelo Ball this summer, which should mean more open looks, not fewer. If you are asking who you would rather build the next five years around, Edwards or Giannis, that is not a hard question anymore.

5. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks · Our Rating: 95

2K says 96. We say 95.

A point down, same spot. Brunson is the engine of a Knicks team that now has Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges around him, and he is the reason that group functions. The single point is a size tax and nothing more. At 6'2" there are playoff series where the shot-making has to be perfect for New York to survive, and 96 should be reserved for players who do not have that ceiling on them.

4. Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers · Our Rating: 96

2K says 96. We agree.

The one number in the top six we would not touch. Doncic in Lakers purple and gold is still the most complete offensive engine in basketball, a player who controls tempo, shot quality and matchups by himself. The defensive questions are permanent and they are the reason he is not higher. Ninety-six is exactly right.

3. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets · Our Rating: 96

2K says 97. We say 96.

The take that will get us the most mail. Jokic is arguably the best basketball player alive and we are still moving him out of the 97 tier, because the tier should mean something. He has one ring, in 2023, and Denver has not been back to a conference finals since. Every year the individual numbers get more absurd and every year the Nuggets exit early, and at some point the rating has to account for a team that keeps losing with the best player in the series. It is one point. It is also the difference between "best player in the world" and "best player on a team that gets out of the second round," and right now those are two different people.

2. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs · Our Rating: 97

2K says 97. We agree.

No argument. Wembanyama is 22 and already the most disruptive defensive player in the league, with a Spurs roster that has quietly turned into a real one around him: Stephon Castle at 87, Dylan Harper at 85, De'Aaron Fox at 84. Ninety-seven is correct and it is probably going to look low by March.

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder · Our Rating: 97

2K says 97. We agree.

2K got the top of the board right. Gilgeous-Alexander is the most efficient high-volume scorer in the sport on the deepest team in it, with Chet Holmgren at 86, Jalen Williams at 85 and Isaiah Hartenstein at 82 behind him, and Oklahoma City remains the one roster with no obvious way to attack it. He is the No. 1 player in NBA 2K27 and he should be.

The Two Boards, Side by Side

Four players hold the same rank on both boards. Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama, Jokic and Doncic are fixed at the top, and after that the two lists come apart completely.

Five More Ratings 2K Got Wrong

The top 10 is where the argument is loudest, but these are the five outside it we would change most.

LeBron James, Philadelphia 76ers. 2K says 91. We say 87. The single most generous rating in the game. James is 41, on a two-year deal, and joining a team where he is genuinely the fourth-best player. Ninety-one is a legacy number. Eighty-seven is what a 41-year-old complementary star is worth, and it is still a very good rating.

Anthony Davis, Washington Wizards. 2K says 90. We say 86. Availability is a skill and Davis does not have it. He has one guaranteed year left in Washington next to Trae Young, and a player who cannot be counted on to be on the floor should not carry a 90.

Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets. 2K says 93. We say 90. Still one of the purest scorers who has ever played, and still 37 in a Rockets jersey next to Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson. Ninety is not disrespect. Ninety-three is fiction, and it is why he is the one 2K put in the top 10 that we could not keep there.

Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets. 2K says 89. We say 87. Way too high. Murray has two or three unguardable playoff runs on his resume and a whole lot of ordinary regular seasons in between, and 89 prices in only the good version.

Deni Avdija, Portland Trail Blazers. 2K says 88. We say 90. The only player on this list we are moving up. Avdija took a genuine leap in Portland and 2K has not caught up. At 90 he sits one point behind our No. 10, which is the point: he is far closer to that group than a 25th-place ranking suggests.

One we are watching without a number: Tyrese Haliburton at 90. We think he has a great year coming in Indiana. We would rather grade that after we see it than guess at it now.

A Third of This List Changed Jerseys

Here is what makes this ratings drop different, and it is a uniform story as much as a basketball one. The top of NBA 2K27 is full of players you will not recognize by their colors.

Giannis is in a Miami Heat jersey. Luka Doncic is in Lakers purple and gold. Kevin Durant is in Rockets red. Jaylen Brown is in a 76ers uniform and Paul George went the other way to Boston. Anthony Davis is a Washington Wizard. And Kawhi Leonard, at 93, is going back to Toronto, and the Raptors agreed to acquire him from the Clippers for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and a stack of picks, a deal on hold pending the league's cap investigation, with Leonard expecting to be a Raptor by training camp. That would put him back in the jersey he won the 2019 title in.

LeBron James in Philadelphia 76ers red, white and royal blue is the one that still does not compute. After the Lakers years, the most recognizable player alive is in Liberty red wearing No. 23, because his other number, 6, is retired league-wide for Bill Russell and hangs in Philadelphia for Julius Erving.

Giannis in Miami Heat red, black and white is the colorway swap of the decade. Every season of his career had been in Bucks green, cream and blue, the uniform he turned into two MVPs and a title. Miami followed the introductory press conference with the full jersey reveal, and the white Association set with the red, black and yellow side striping already looks built for him.

Jaylen Brown trading Celtics green for 76ers red and blue is the most jarring look of the lot, a franchise cornerstone swapping one Atlantic Division identity for its biggest rival.

Kevin Durant's Rockets debut got its own treatment when Houston built an entire rebrand launch around him in the new Icon Edition red No. 7, ketchup and mustard back for the first time in thirty years. We graded the whole thing in our Houston Rockets 2026-27 rebrand breakdown.

The 76ers now hold four of 2K's top 18, Maxey at 92 with James, Brown and Joel Embiid all at 91, which means four of the eighteen best players in the game wear the same uniform. The Knicks have three of the top 24 in Brunson, Towns and Anunoby.

For a game that sells itself on authenticity, the jerseys are going to do a lot of the storytelling this year.

The Bottom Line

2K got the top four right and then flattened everything underneath. Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama, Jokic and Doncic hold the same four spots on both boards. After that we drop Jokic to 96, cut Brunson a point, move Anthony Edwards ahead of Giannis, and take Giannis all the way down to 94, which opens the gap the rest of the list needs. Stephen Curry keeps his 93 and moves up a spot. Kevin Durant and Cade Cunningham fall out of our ten entirely, and Tyrese Maxey and Jayson Tatum climb in from 15th and 12th.

Outside the ten, LeBron James at 91 and Anthony Davis at 90 are the two ratings we would change first, and Deni Avdija at 88 is the only player in the top 25 we would raise.

NBA 2K27 launches September 4 with early access from August 28, and these numbers will move all season. Ours will too.

For more, see our 2026-27 NBA wordmarks breakdown, every NBA playoff court ranked, and our NBA traditional jersey index.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the highest rated player in NBA 2K27?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder is the No. 1 player in NBA 2K27 at 97 overall. Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic are also rated 97. No player received a 98 or 99.

What is LeBron James rated in NBA 2K27?

2K rated LeBron James 91 overall, 16th on the Top 100 list, in his first season with the Philadelphia 76ers. We think that is four points too high and would rate him 87.

Why is Nikola Jokic not a 97 in your rankings?

We moved Jokic to 96. He has one championship, in 2023, and Denver has not returned to a conference finals since. The 97 tier should be reserved for players whose teams win, and right now Denver does not.

What is Giannis Antetokounmpo rated in NBA 2K27?

2K rated Giannis 96 overall and ranked him sixth following his trade from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Miami Heat. We rate him 94 and rank him seventh, the biggest gap between our board and 2K's, because he is 31 and starting over on a roster that was not built around him.

Which players did 2K rank in the top 10 that you left out?

Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons, whom 2K rated 94 and ranked eighth, and Kevin Durant of the Houston Rockets, rated 93 and ranked tenth. We replaced them with Tyrese Maxey, who 2K ranked 15th, and Jayson Tatum, who 2K ranked 12th.

When does NBA 2K27 come out?

NBA 2K27 launches September 4, 2026, with early access beginning August 28, 2026. Player ratings will be updated throughout the 2026-27 NBA season based on real performance.