In sports video games, player rankings are a big deal. Not only are they important for fans who want to play as their favorite superstar, but for the players and teams as well. It might not seem as significant compared to gameplay mechanics, or graphics, but it's definitely something that players like FIFA star Romelu Lukaku take seriously. Now, the NBA's Washington Wizards are throwing some shade at NBA 2K21 for its All-Star update to player ratings.
Often released at the beginning of a new season, sports video games do their best to rate teams and players based on past performance and rough predictions for how the season will go. Sometimes teams or players have a banner year unexpectedly, and recently, sports games have done a decent job in adjusting ratings as the season goes on. Madden 21 just released its last update, and with the NFL season over, fans will have to wait until Madden 22 to see what might change.
RELATED: Predicting MLB The Show 21's Team Ratings
The NBA season is still in full swing, and with the All Star Weekend on right now, NBA 2K21 has updated some player ratings, but Washington is not happy about what happened to its star player, Bradley Beal. Despite making the All Star Game as a starter for the Eastern Conference, and averaging a career-best 32.9 points per game, Beal was dropped a point by NBA 2K21 in the latest update. While one point might not seem like a big deal, a number of All Star players saw a boost to their rating.
The Washington Wizards as a team are not doing great this season, which could be the reason for Beal's drop. However, with Beal putting up career best numbers while on a subpar team, the drop seems a tad unfair. As a response to the update announcement, the Wizards response to NBA 2K21's tweet was simply the clown emoji, which many felt was the right reaction. The update to NBA 2K21 boosted the stats for fellow Eastern Conference All-Stars Joel Embiid and Julius Randle, as well as a number of other players who are playing good basketball. Reactions on Twitter agree with the Wizards' assessment of the situation, that Beal shouldn't have dropped.
The season is still only half over, so future updates could adjust Beal's rating if he continues to play as well as he has over the first half of the season. With NBA 2K21 coming to Xbox Game Pass, more fans will get the chance to test Beal out on the court and see if his current rating is appropriate.
NBA 2K21 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE: NBA 2K21: Zion Williamson Thought His Player Rating Was Too Low