By: Mac Cummings
Hellooooo Hawks fans! I am sure most of you have seen by now that our boy Trae Young finally joined the 90 club on NBA2k22. As exciting as this may be for us Hawks fans it certainly raised a few questions. The biggest being, “What the hell took so long?” It’s nothing new for us Hawks fans to have to defend Trae and his playing abilities. This is something we have had to do for our guy since we drafted him in 2018. Whether it’s his size or his attitude, Trae has almost always been criminally criticized for almost every move he makes. Now, I could write a hundred articles about that aspect of Trae’s career alone, but this article is more of an overarching one. This article isn’t just about the disrespect Trae receives, even when it comes to 2K ratings, it’s about the disrespect ALL Atlanta Hawks get. And have gotten throughout the years. I will be using the ratings they gave our Hawks after each season. I started with the 2014-15 Hawks because that’s when the real disrespect began. I, like most of you, have no idea where this disrespect comes from, and it was put on full display this last postseason. I do know that this squad is going to change that. Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty here and see why ole Ronnie 2k hates on our guys so much.
2016 Roster: Top 6 Players (Final Record: 60-22, 1st Seed)
1. Jeff Teague 83
1. Paul Millsap 83
1. Al Horford 83
4. Kyle Korver 79
5. Tiago Splitter 76
5. Dennis Schroeder 76
Recap:
This team won 60 games, SIXTY GAMES, and these are their player ratings going into the next season. First glance and they don’t look too awful but then you remember they won 60 freaking games and you start to wonder a bit. The average rating for our six best players after the best season in franchise history was 80. Now, let’s compare that to some of the other “best teams” from the 2014-15 season. The Cavaliers, team that ended up sweeping this Hawks team in the ECF, has an average for their top 6 players of 82. The Warriors, the champs from that season, come out at 82.2. Have it be, I agree those two teams probably should have been ranked higher, there’s some that shouldn’t have. The Spurs, who finished 6th in the West during the 2014-15 season had the highest average for top 6, coming in at 83.33. The Miami Heat, who didn’t even make the playoffs in 2014-15 (!) are one of the best teams on NBA2k16 with an average rating for their top 6 being 81.5. That’s right people, the Hawks win 60 games, and the Heat don’t even make the playoffs and according to 2k they’re still a significantly better team than we were. Love it!
2017 Roster: Top 6 Players (Final Record: 48-34, 4th Seed)
1. Paul Millsap 86
2. Dwight Howard 84
3. Dennis Schroeder 78
3. Kent Bazemore 78
5. Thabo Sefolosha 75
5. Ersan Ilyasova 75
Recap:
The ratings for this year’s edition of NBA2k I felt were definitely a little more respectful as they rated Paul Millsap just about where I felt he deserved. But I can’t lie, the ratings from NBA2k17 make the ratings from NBA2k16 that much more eyebrow raising. How does a team win 12 less games than they did from the season before and the average rating of their 6 best players only go down from 80 to 79.33? I’m not sure what Ronnie and the gang where thinking back then but I certainly feel like the 2104-15 team should have been ranked a little higher. Now, for some quick comparisons. The Boston Celtics from this season, a team the Hawks beat in 6 in the first round that year, had an average of 80.9 for their 6 best players. I’m no mathematician, but I guess when it matters most 79.33 > 80.9? The Utah Jazz didn’t even make the playoffs this season and still had an average rating for their top 6 at 80.7. Which makes all of the sense in the world.
2018 Roster: Top 6 Players (Final Record: 43-39, DNQ)
1. Dennis Schroeder 79
2. Dewayne Dedmon 77
3. Taurean Prince 75
4. Mike Muscala 74
4. Malcolm Delaney 74
4. Kent Bazemore 74
Recap:
This team receiving such low ratings after losing Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard over the offseason doesn’t bother me as much. This team ended up winning 24 games the season these ratings were given to them. This was just straight up not a good team. We ended up getting some guy named Trae Young out of this season though, so I think it was well worth it. But I did want to point out some interesting stats. The Hawks, on average, were the worst rated team in all of 2k this year. When you win 24 games in a season that will most likely be deserved. But there’s something worth mentioning, the Phoenix Suns were the 20th ranked team by player rating average and the Dallas Mavericks were 19th and then both teams ended up winning 21 and 24 games respectively all season. Looks like Ronnie and the crew can easily see when the Hawks will be bad but have trouble with other 29 teams.
2019 Roster: Top 6 Players (Final Record: 29-53, DNQ)
1. Taurean Prince 79
1. John Collins 79
3. Trae Young 77
3. Alex Len 77
3. Dewayne Dedmon 77
3. Kent Bazemore 77
Recap:
Again, this was a bad Hawks team. Trae was a rookie, John wasn’t nearly as developed yet, and according to 2k, Taurean Prince was our best player. The Hawks players receiving such low ratings here feels less disrespectful, and unfortunately, more accurate. But again, there were a few teams that maybe shouldn’t have been ranked so much higher than the Hawks. I’m not sure what 2k’s obsession with Phoenix is but they did it again. Phoenix, along with Washington, entered the season being the 18th best teams ranked on 2k. They ended up winning 19 and 32 games respectively that season. For reference, the Hawks were the second worst team on this rendition of 2k. I’m catching onto you Ronnie!
2020 Roster: Top 6 Players (Final Record: 20-47, DNQ)
1. Trae Young 85
2. John Collins 84
3. Jabari Parker 78
4. Alex Len 77
4. De’Andre Hunter 77
6. Kevin Huerter 76
Recap:
Well, well, well, it finally happened. The Hawks received higher ratings that they may not have exactly deserved. The average for the top 6 on this Hawks squad is actually an impressive 79.5, only .5 lower than a squad that won 60 games. Only difference is this squad only won 20 games. They’re not completely innocent on this edition of 2k though, the Timberwolves average for top 6 is 80 and they only won 19 games that season. I know I’m being nit-picky, but I gotta keep it flowing somehow.
2021 Roster: Top 6 Players (Final Record: 41-31, 5th Seed)
1. Trae Young 88
2. John Collins 85
3. Clint Capela 82
4. Jeff Teague 78
5. Onyeka Okongwu 76
6. Kevin Huerter 75
Recap:
This Hawks squad goes into this version of 2k being the 19th best team based on average rankings and have a top 6 average of 80.7. This was a little bit of an undershoot considering this Hawks squad was a Trae Young freak injury away from playing in the Finals. But that’s not my biggest gripe. My biggest is that this squad, one that had not proven itself yet, has a higher average rating for the top 6 players than a team that won 60 games did. Now, if Ronnie and the boys can see into the future, their ratings are just fine. But I have a feeling they don’t have this ability. This Hawks team IS a better team than the 2014-15 squad. But how in the world would you know that based off the previous seasons for each team. Win 60 games and you get an average of 80, win 20 games and you get an average of 80.7. I think I’m starting to get it!
2022 Roster: Top 6 Players (Current Record: 13-12, TBD)
1. Trae Young 90
2. Clint Capela 86
3. John Collins 84
4. De’Andre Hunter 80
4. Bogdan Bogdanovic 80
6. Danilo Gallinari 79
Recap:
It finally happened guys!! The Hawks aren’t being completely and totally disrespected when it comes to their 2k ratings. This Hawks squad is currently the 4th best team in the game based on average player rating and the average for our top 6 for the newest edition of 2k is 83.2! Our record isn’t completely vindictive of the skillsets of this team. Regardless of our near .500 record, this team is LOADED. Seeing the Hawks, and specifically Trae, get the respect they deserve is a great feeling, but I certainly want more. Luka, Kyrie, Harden, and Dame are all rated higher than Trae. Let’s do a quick comparison of those 4 guys this season and see who we all think should be rated the highest on THIS YEAR’S version of 2k.
Trae: 26.3 PPG, 45.6 FG%, 9.4 APG, 4.0 RPG, 24.99 PER
Luka: 25.6 PPG, 44.8 FG%, 8.5 APG, 8.0 RPG, 21.96 PER
Kyrie: 2 shots missed and a flat earth
Harden: 20.9 PPG, 40.1 FG%, 9.6 APG, 8.0 RPG, 20.53 PER
Dame: 21.5 PPG, 39.7 FG%, 7.8 APG, 4.0 RPG, 18.36 PER
The fact that Trae is rated lower than all four of those guys goes to show that the disrespect that Trae Young and the Hawks get is unwarranted and consistent. I’m afraid the only way the Hawks and Trae will be able to change this narrative is by winning a championship, so I guess that’s just what they’ll have to do.
No disrespect to the author, but it’s hard to enjoy content like this when it’s written at such a mind boggingly low level. This reads like a long reddit comment rather than some type of article
Scotty – WTF do you mean no disrespect to the author? Don’t speak to people like that, especially not people putting themselves out there and chasing their dreams. I thought this was a very well analyzed and thought out article.
Hey Scotty, no disrespect to you, but your comment was incredibly disrespectful. I love the content on this site and realize it’s not the AJC. Maybe you should too and then you wouldn’t need to leave nasty comments like this one. Go Hawks!