The long-awaited arrival of the popular annual NBA basketball simulation game NBA 2k21 has come, released today on PC, PS4, Switch and XBox One, with brand-new ratings for Boston Celtics players to go with it.
The classic video game comes in several different tiered versions with different covers, features, and upgrade possibilities, and all of them of course have updated player ratings for each and every Celtic on the roster, including two way players.
The highly-anticipated game should better-reflect where the team is now in the league’s hierarchy with the updated ratings; let’s take a look at where each of the Celtics on the 2019-20 roster placed.
The Guaranteed Closers
These players all scored 80 or higher, and it’s no coincidence these players are almost always on the floor at the end of a game:
Jayson Tatum — 89
Kemba Walker — 86
Jaylen Brown — 84
Gordon Hayward — 83
Marcus Smart — 80
Tatum: Cs survive cold streaks because they ‘find a way to contribute’ https://t.co/KgemHi53nT
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 3, 2020
Frontcourt By Committee
These three bigs work together to adapt to whatever sort of frontcourt play the Celtics need at any moment:
Daniel Theis — 79
Enes Kanter — 76
Robert Williams III — 74
Theis grabs career-high playoff boards vs. Raps; ‘we can play better’ https://t.co/cEBgsxTVPr
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 31, 2020
Rotation:
Brad Wanamaker — 73
Vincent Poirier — 73
Javonte Green — 72
Grant Williams — 71
Semi Ojeleye — 71
WATCH: Grant Williams’ hilarious bench celebration to Jaylen Brown’s 3 https://t.co/FC9b9wCfLM
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 20, 2020
Deep rotation:
Romeo Langford — 70
Carsen Edwards — 70
Tacko Fall — 70
Tremont Waters — 70
Celtics' Tremont Waters among '3 G League players to keep an eye on' https://t.co/lJhBXgSMcJ via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 30, 2020
While the folks behind 2k21 have done a very good job at the top, they seem a little off once you get to the mid-to deep rotation players. Based on what we’ve seen so far in 2019-20, it would seem Poirier ought to have the lowest ranking, with Edwards next-highest, then Fall, and then Waters.
Stevens blames loss on flat 2nd half start; ‘just one of those games’ https://t.co/qxzYVubwPd
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 4, 2020
Grant Williams should probably follow Wanamaker, and Green Ojeleye, but other than some relatively minor shuffling, this seems a mostly-fair assessment of the Celtics’ talent.
