NBA stars reaaaaally care about their ratings in 2K. How much you ask? Enough to make it one of the main topics of discussion at Harrison Barnes' wedding.
Fans of the NBA 2K series are likely familiar with, Ronnie Singh -- or as he's known on Twitter, @Ronnie2k -- a digital marketing director at 2K Sports. Part of Ronnie's job includes taking heat from NBA players about their in-game ratings, and as he found out this summer, it doesn't matter where they are or what they're doing, players have no problem putting him on blast.
In a recent interview with Hoops Hype on how player ratings are determined in NBA 2K, Ronnie brought up a funny situation that arose on the topic while he was attending Harrison Barnes' wedding earlier this summer.
At one point during the wedding reception, Wesley Matthews found out that his overall rating in NBA 2K18 is an 83. Singh estimates that there were about 40 NBA players at the wedding and reception, including Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kent Bazemore, Andrew Bogut and Devin Harris among others. Matthews’ 83 rating and how the 2K staff comes up with these numbers became a hot topic among the players in attendance.
“I was at Harrison Barnes’ wedding and a major point of contention was Wesley’s rating,” Singh said. “He found out that he was an 83 overall and he got pretty upset about it. He kept talking to Rick Carlisle about it. Well, Rick was the MC of Harrison’s reception. It got to the point that during the reception, in front of about 40 NBA players, Rick gets on the mic and says, ‘Ronnie, we have to address this rating thing right now. You need to come up here.’
“So during the reception, I’m up there in front of these 40 NBA players explaining why the ratings are the way they are and how they’re determined. And I’m thinking, ‘This guy is in the middle of celebrating his wedding!’ Harrison’s wife was probably like, ‘I’m going to murder Ronnie after this reception.’ (laughs) They’re both amazing people – just a great couple – but I just kept thinking, ‘This is not the proper place for this!’ But Rick orchestrated it, so unfortunately I had to participate.” - Ronnie Singh (Hoops Hype)
You would have to imagine that Ronnie never imagined being in a situation quite like that when he first started at 2K Sports. It's pretty amazing to see just how much professional athletes really care about the ratings of their digital counterparts.
