Utah Jazz: Who Won the Gobert-Whiteside NBA 2K17 Ratings Battle?

Player ratings for NBA 2K 17 are trickling out, including numbers for Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and the Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside.

It’s that time of year again. NBA players, fans and media have taken to social media in droves to discuss and debate one of the more controversial topics in all of sports–player ratings for the new NBA 2K video game.

NBA 2K17 won’t be hitting store shelves until September 20, but people already have an opportunity to weigh in on how players are evaluated in the game. It’s all thanks to 2K Sports’ Ronnie Singh, who sends players screen captures of their in-game likenesses along with their overall rating on the daily via Twitter.

I, for one, can’t help but get caught up in the player rating debate. Last August, I argued vociferously that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert‘s rating coming in lower than his Miami Heat counterpart Hassan Whiteside was flat wrong. Although the difference was slim (81 to 79), it was a crime of the highest order to me and many Jazz fans.

So, what’s the story this year? After Gobert was thwarted by injuries and the Jazz missed the postseason while Whiteside had a career season, leading the league in blocked shots and helping the Heat win a playoff series, is there any hope that the Stifle Tower narrowed the gap this summer?

The answer, of course, is no. However, this time I think the folks at 2K got it right.

In this year’s game, Gobert boasts an 81 rating. Moreover, the developers managed to nail the Jazz center’s hair game, something the Stifle Tower can really get behind–

Meanwhile, Whiteside’s rating for 2K17 is 85, a number that a majority of people said was right on the money in a Twitter poll by Singh that had nearly 30,000 respondents–

While I think that Gobert will ultimately become the better player as the years go by, it’s hard to argue that Whiteside shouldn’t be ranked higher in the video game based on what transpired last season.

Gobert missed 21 games last year, averaging just over nine points, 11 rebounds and two blocks per game. Whiteside beat the Jazzman in all three categories, finishing the season with averages of 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per contest. He also posted higher percentages from the field and the free throw line.

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As many Jazz fans would point out, there are several advanced statistics that still fell in favor of Gobert. For example, he fares slightly better than Whiteside in overall defensive field goal percentage (43.8 to 45.5), as well as DFG% within six (48.6 to 49.7) or 10 feet of the basket (46.7 to 48.4).

The Stifle Tower also boasted a better defensive rating; the Jazz allowed 1.7 points less per 100 possessions than the Heat did when the two were on the floor.

Still, there’s no denying that Whiteside took his game to a new level during the 2015-16 campaign while Gobert’s growth stagnated somewhat as he dealt with being banged up. Given that, it should come as no surprise that Gobert’s rating came in a few clicks short of Whiteside’s.

Having said that, with Gobert getting healthy and the Jazz on a path toward the top of the Western Conference, the situation could be very different at this time next year.

Whiteside gets the win for now, but the French Rejection is coming for the crown.