This year there won’t be any 98 overall ratings.
In 2K26 there were two: Nikola Jokic and the game’s cover boy, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Well, in the upcoming edition, the peak sits at 97. And once again sharing the top, Jokic and SGA, are joined by one more player. And no, it isn’t a Knicks NBA champion, though it is a Conference Finals MVP… of the Conference.
Nikola Jokic. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Victor Wembanyama.
The fresh NBA 2K27 cover star enters the summit of individual ratings, posting an astronomically high average at just 22 years old. Premature? Marketing? An imminent reality? You decide.
The NBA 2K27 Top-20
Now let’s see who the other seventeen players are that complete the top-20 in 2K27:
| Rank | Player | 2K27 Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikola Jokic | 97 |
| 2 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 97 |
| 3 | Victor Wembanyama | 97 |
| 4 | Luka Doncic | 96 |
| 5 | Jalen Brunson | 96 |
| 6 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 96 |
| 7 | Anthony Edwards | 95 |
| 8 | Cade Cunningham | 94 |
| 9 | Stephen Curry | 93 |
| 10 | Kevin Durant | 93 |
| 11 | Kawhi Leonard | 93 |
| 12 | Jayson Tatum | 93 |
| 13 | Donovan Mitchell | 93 |
| 14 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 93 |
| 15 | Tyrese Maxey | 92 |
| 16 | LeBron James | 91 |
| 17 | Jaylen Brown | 91 |
| 18 | Joel Embiid | 91 |
| 19 | Devin Booker | 91 |
| 20 | Tyrese Haliburton | 90 |
Fuera de este grupo solo hay un jugador más que alcanza los noventa de media, Anthony Davis, que en la 2026-27 defenderá los colores de los Washington Wizards junto a Trae Young. Son tres jugadores menos que en el 2K26, cuando fueron veinticuatro los que alcanzaron el sobresaliente.
There are many more interesting changes in this freshly released top-100. Here are a few of them.
Maxey Makes the Biggest Jump
If Wembanyama is the surprise at the summit, Tyrese Maxey leads the most dramatic rise across the entire upper echelon.
The Philadelphia 76ers point guard and new LeBron James teammate climbs from 86 to 92 and jumps from 43rd to 15th. Six points and twenty-eight spots up from one season to the next.
Jalen Brunson also gains three points (from 93 to 96) and climbs from 13th to 5th after guiding the Knicks to the championship and taking—this time indeed—the NBA Finals MVP. More than deserved. The same average as Doncic, his former Dallas teammate. Another of the great ‘what ifs’ if the Mavericks had realized the raw talent they let slip away.
Cade Cunningham completes the podium of the big gains. The Detroit guard moves from 92 to 94, an eight-spot advance: from 16th to 8th.
LeBron Leaves the Top-10
The most symbolic drop has a name, surname and a Hall of Fame pantheon awaiting whenever he decides to officially end his run. LeBron James drops from 94 to 91 and moves from seventh to sixteenth.
It’s the first time since NBA 2K5 that LeBron begins an edition outside the ten best-valued players. It ends a streak of 21 consecutive entries in the top-10. Historic, also at the controls of the joystick.
His new average is also the lowest he’s earned since his second NBA season (in 2K14 it was the only time he reached 99 overall).
The paradox, and from the opposite vantage, is that he will still be a 91 and one of the twenty best players in the game as he nears 42 years old. In other words, the headline could well read “LeBron stays in the top-20.” A prodigious achievement for a player with endless longevity.
The rest of the modern legends hold up well, though they’re also younger than the king. Stephen Curry loses one point, but remains ninth with 93 and preserves his unbeatable 99 in three-pointers. Kevin Durant remains exactly the same: tenth and 93 in both editions. Kawhi Leonard, reborn and healthy, even improves: from 92 to 93 to rise four spots and be on the cusp of the top-10.
Between LeBron, Curry, Durant and Kawhi, the average age is almost 38 years and a 92.5 rating. An irrepeatable generation… and inexhaustible, delaying year after year its pressing final bow.
Ja Morant Plummets
The great omission from the top-20 is Ja Morant. And he doesn’t merely stand at the door with one hand on the knob and the other on the bell.
The guard drops from 19th position and a 91 rating to appearing at number 60 with an 84. He loses seven points and 41 positions, the sharpest and most decisive collapse among those who made up NBA 2K26’s elite.
Anthony Davis is the other player to leave the group, though by much less. He falls from 93 to 90 and from 12th to 21st. He sits just one position away from keeping his place.
Tyrese Haliburton doesn’t come out unscathed after a year on the shelf. After missing the entire season due to an Achilles injury, 2K punishes him by dropping his rating from 93 to 90; nonetheless, he manages to endure 20. We’ll see if he lives up to such high regard.
An Even Older Top-20
Thus the top-20 endures well to its prior reflection, keeping 18 of its former members from 2K26. Maxey and Jaylen Brown occupy the spots left by Morant and Davis.
The breakthrough of Wembanyama, Maxey, or Cunningham could give a false impression that the generational handover has already occurred. But nothing could be further from the truth.
The average age of the top twenty rises from 29.15 years in NBA 2K26 to 29.85 in NBA 2K27. The number of players aged 30 or more also grows: from eight to nine.
The new generation is advancing, yes, but old age resists: Curry, Durant, Kawhi, LeBron still persist beyond the game, something that we—born in the eighties and nineties—celebrate.
The internationalization also continues unabated. The podium is formed by a Canadian, a Frenchman, and a Serb. And five of the six top finishers were born outside the United States: Shai, Wembanyama, Jokic, Dončić, and Antetokounmpo. Jalen Brunson, with his meteoric season and ring, is the lone exception.
Ratings and Salaries Do Not Go Hand in Hand
The rankings also reveal some curious economic contrasts born from the fact that these ratings reward not only the current form but also carry their own six-year cycles. Seniority, loyalty, and experience are also rewarded, and very well, by those who know how to age with dignity in this league so demanding both mentally and physically.
Stephen Curry will be the NBA’s highest-paid player in the 2026-27 season, earning about 62.6 million dollars, but he will appear ninth in the game. Jokic, second in salary and third in rating, does represent a much more exact match.
On the opposite end we find Wembanyama, still bound by a pay scale that admits no exceptions through the Draft. This season he will earn around 17 million while still on his rookie contract. More than a hundred players will have a salary higher than his.
Anthony Davis appears among the league’s highest contracts (3rd), but drops to 21st in 2K rating. Jalen Brunson, fifth in rating, continues earning far below the big supermax deals after taking a significant pay cut to facilitate the Knicks’ build (46th).
The Knicks’ Championship Starting Five
The New York championship has also left its mark on the ratings, perhaps insufficient for some fans. The Knicks’ starting five who clinched the ring against San Antonio appear among the top 80 players in NBA 2K27.
Jalen Brunson: 96 — 5th
Karl-Anthony Towns: 93 — 14th
OG Anunoby: 88 — 24th
Mikal Bridges: 84 — 68th
Josh Hart: 82 — 79th
The quintet achieves a combined average of 88.6, compared to 87 in NBA 2K26. Brunson and Towns appear inside the top-15; Anunoby sits just short of the top-20 after gaining three points, and Bridges and Hart complete a group that has shown that the collective matters far more than any individual rating.
