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Operation Sports has released the ratings for the starting five of each of the NBA's 30 teams in the forthcoming NBA 2K11 videogame, and there are some surprising results.
Here's a look at some of the top overall players, for instance:
| Overall Rank |
Player | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-1 | Kobe Bryant | Lakers | 97 |
| LeBron James | Heat | ||
| Dwyane Wade | |||
| 4 | Chris Paul | Hornets | 95 |
| 5 | Carmelo Anthony | Nuggets | 93 |
| 6 | Deron Williams | Jazz | 92 |
| 7 | Kevin Durant | Thunder | 91 |
| 8 | Tim Duncan | Spurs | 90 |
| 9 | Pau Gasol | Lakers | 89 |
| T-10 | Dwight Howard | Magic | 88 |
| Joe Johnson | Hawks | ||
| Brandon Roy | Trail Blazers |
Indeed, the developers could name nine players more valuable than Howard, the two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and another two equal to him. One can take issue with a number of these rankings--Anthony rating that highly is criminal, in a relative sense--and complaining about rating inaccuracy in videogames is rather a tired exercise at this point. But it does seem bizarre to see nine players, and two bigs, ranked ahead of Howard. I thought the consensus in basketball circles was that he might be, at worst, the fifth-best player overall.
In case you're curious, my top five overall is, in order: James, Howard, Paul, Wade, and Durant.
2K Sports lists Howard, Vince Carter (81), Rashard Lewis (76), Jameer Nelson (75), and Mickael Pietrus (72) as the Magic's starting five. The game hits stores on October 5th.