Did the Utah Jazz get ripped off by NBA 2k in latest update?

In the latest update on NBA 2k20, the game developers failed to recognize the Utah Jazz stars amidst recent tear.

It’s no secret that the Utah Jazz have been on a tear recently. They have planted their flag on the summit of several statistical mountaintops the past 10 games, including the league’s best net rating and offense.

They’ve been able to win close games at home and on the road, and dominate opponents from the opening tip.

They’ve been able to rely on the heroics of their top three players to bail them out of games. Examples include all of Bojan Bogdanovic‘s 30+ point games, Rudy Gobert‘s clutch defense, and Donovan Mitchell‘s ascent while being the main point guard

They’ve also been able to receive contributions across the board when one or more of their stars is having an off-night. In the two blowout wins over the Knicks and Hornets last week, the Jazz were able to take care of business quite handily without exerting any player for more than 30 minutes on the court.

The Utah Jazz were inevitably due for a bump to several players on their NBA 2k rating, since the last time they updated was early December.

Georges Niang was bumped up from a 72 to a 75 overall rating, which seems fair to me. After the Jazz released Jeff Green on December 23rd, Niang has been one of the helpers in this 10 game winning streak.

Joe Ingles got bumped up from a 76 overall rating to a 78. I could argue his play of late should put him well into the 80s, but I’m happy he at least is at a 78 now. His three point marksmanship and court vision have been crucial to the Jazz’s recent tear.

Emmanuel Mudiay also received a slight one point bump to put him at a 76 overall rating. Mudiay has done exactly what he said he’d do when he signed with the Jazz last summer. He wanted to learn how to play a well-rounded game of basketball and be able to stick in the NBA.

These were good changes that needed to be made to the Jazz’s roster on the video game, but there was a couple glaring omissions from the 2k crew.

They failed to bump up the ratings of Utah Jazz stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. One might think it would be because we’re no longer in the beginning of the NBA season, and upticks to ratings would be hard to come by for star players this late.

But whoever thought that is wrong, because Trae Young, Nikola Jokic, and Chris Paul each received a one point bump to their rating.

Trae Young has been playing awesome since NBA 2k’s last update in December, putting up 29 points and nearly nine assists per game in the month stretch. But his team has only won four games during that time, one of which Young sat out.

Likewise Nikola Jokic has turned his play around the past month after a slow start where some were questioning his fitness and motivation. Since the last 2k update, Jokic has upped his shooting efficiency to over 55 percent from the field and over 40 percent from three point land. The Nuggets have gone a solid 13-7 over that stretch, including a seven game win streak that ran through Christmas.

I can see the logic behind bumping Jokic up to a 90 overall rating, because he’s played great the past month. But if your’e going to acknowledge great individual play paired with winning, then you absolutely can’t ignore what Rudy Gobert has been doing for the Jazz.

In that same stretch, Gobert has led the league in rebounds per game with 15.6 per game. His +/- is a whopping 11.4, meaning the Jazz are 11.4 points better per 100 possessions when Rudy is on the court.

The Jazz are 16-2 in that stretch and by far the hottest team in the league, so why did Jokic receive the recognition when Rudy did not?

Why did Hassan Whiteside get bumped up two points to match Gobert with an 87 overall rating, and why is Andre Drummond rated better than Gobert in this game?

To put it simply, it is an absolute travesty that Gobert is not rated in the 90s or higher right now. I can’t think of a single player who can replicate the impact Gobert has on the game, even offensive wizards like LeBron James don’t have the same overall impact that Gobert has had of late.

As for Donovan Mitchell, the game developers failed to recognize his evolution as a point guard since Mike Conley went down with his hamstring injury. Since the last update, Mitchell has averaged 5.4 assists per game (his career average is 4.0) while maintaining an efficient 23.5 points per game.

He been the engine driving the Jazz offense to be the best in the league, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Mitchell deserves to be at a 90 overall rating in front of Bradley Beal, Andre Drummond, and Jimmy Butler.

Throw in the fact that the game developers have completely forgot that Royce O’Neale is a good NBA player, and we can safely say the Utah Jazz were ripped off by NBA 2k this time around.