Denver Nuggets: Did NBA 2K disrespect Jamal Murray with his new rating?

Recently, Denver Nuggets point guard, Jamal Murray, requested to see his overall rating in the new NBA 2K22. His answer was found on Twitter when well-known 2k digital marketing director, Ronnie 2K, replied to Murray’s tweet.

Ronnie announced that Jamal’s new overall is an 85 and Nuggets fans know that this rating can most assuredly be argued.

Before Murray’s injury, he was sitting comfortably at a 86 overall, and the Denver Nuggets were playing some of their best basketball of the season after acquiring Aaron Gordon before the trade deadline passed.

It all changed on 12 Apr. for the Nuggets as Murray tore his ACL playing at the Chase Center against the Golden State Warriors. His season, unfortunately, came to an end while averaging 21.2 points, 4.8 assists, and four rebounds.

But Jamal does more on the court than just the numbers you see on paper. He has improved his defensive game and requires NBA defenses to focus on him, which leads to more shots for his teammates on the floor. His leadership and basketball IQ have taken a jump as well with help from Nikola Jokic.

Over the years, Jamal’s 2K rating has improved. In his rookie year, he started with a rating of 75 overall. After showing a promising rookie season, 2K showed their respect and bumped Murray up to an 80 overall. He continued to increase his rating by two points in both his third and fourth years and ended up reaching 86 overall by 2K21.

The argument for Jamal’s rating to be increased can be made after watching his performance in the NBA bubble when he averaged 31.6 points in the first round against the Utah Jazz, coming back from 3-1 (twice) and scoring 50 points without a single free throw attempt in the playoffs is not something you see every day from NBA players. Jamal Murray showed the world what he could do during the 2019-20 playoffs.

The most puzzling part of his new 2K22 rating is the fact that he has seen a decrease in rating possibly due to his injury claims Ronnie 2K.

To say the least, Jamal can agree that he is trending in the wrong direction for some reason. It doesn’t make much sense to decrease players overall due to an injury that he hasn’t even been given a chance to play on since that day in April.

If we look at Klay Thompson though, he hasn’t been healthy enough to play the last two seasons and has stayed at a consistent 88 overall with no drop in rating. Therefore 2K has not put any attention towards adding dimension to Klay’s injury as they have with Murray’s.

So what should Jamal’s rating actually be according to a Nuggets fan? After watching almost all of Murray’s professional games and his recent success in the NBA, I believe Murray should be an 88 overall with how explosive his offensive game is night after night. After requesting to defend the top guards each game in 2020-21, his defense has even improved far more than some expected last season.

For Jamal, this 85 rating just adds fuel to the fire and motivation he needs to recover from his ACL injury. The lower half of his body should be stronger than ever after going through one of the hardest injuries to rehab in professional sports. Expect big things from Jamal in the future.