NBA 2K was a basketball game first released in 1999, and it was also the most popular PC basketball game worldwide.
As a result, its player ratings were seen by many fans as a direct reflection of a player's abilities.
After all, while the real NBA had strength rankings like the MVP race, it was impossible to quantify players with specific numbers.
So in a sense, 2K ratings were a representation of a player's abilities.
That was why McGee, Whiteside, and the others cared so much about their 2K ratings. Nearly every player in the league paid attention whenever the ratings were updated.
Because it was a form of popularity.
And throughout 2K's seventeen-year history, there had previously been only one player to reach a rating of 100: "The Big Shark," O'Neal.
And that had been in 2K2, during its very early years.
After that, 2K had an unwritten rule: no player's rating could exceed 99.
Even if you used mods to max out every attribute, your overall rating would still only be 99.
Because a 100 rating represented perfection. Yet even O'Neal had the weakness of free throws, so theoretically, no one could reach 100.
That was why Jordan, Kobe, James, Garnett, Duncan, and others had only received ratings of 99 even during their Peak Periods.
But this time, 2K had made an exception for Tang Tian!
From 71 when he first entered the league, to 77, then 81.
After arriving with the Pelicans, his rating had reached 87 in his first season. After rising above 90, it had never dropped again.
During the championship season, his rating had reached 96 for the first time. Then last season and this season, it had been 99.
Theoretically, that had already completed every stage of a player's growth.
So this update