Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal

The popular video game franchise, NBA 2K, has come under heavy fire over the years, often for recycling the same product with a couple of new features most of which were not at the forefront of customers’ minds. With the latest installment slated for release on September 8, the Atlanta Hawks shared the team’s ratings going into the 2023-24 season, asking for opinions from fans.

“TRASH JUST LIKE THE GAME,” Murray responded, accompanying his message with several exclamation points.

Murray’s ire may be warranted.

De’Andre Hunter and Onyeka Okongwu are the only Hawks who will begin the season rated higher than at the end of last season. The rest have seen their ratings fall at least one point with several players losing two points, including Murray who goes from an 86 to an 84 overall.

It has to be said that players routinely begin the season with lower ratings than they ended the previous campaign with.

Those ratings tend to rise quickly once the season begins.

Despite the triviality of it all, players have begun to take their ratings in the game more and more seriously. And it’s not just younger players, either, with Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson – a four-time champion and someone widely regarded as one of the best shooters in NBA history – feuding with the game’s frontman, Ronnie 2K.

Thompson’s former Warriors teammate, Kevin Durant, a former MVP, has also found himself at odds with Ronnie 2K over his rating in the game.

Murray’s disdain for 2K could also be interpreted as belief in his teammates after a tumultuous 2022-23 season.

Murray and Trae Young made history but the team was .500 in the regular season and got bounced from the playoffs in the first round just as they had the year prior before his arrival, though they did win one more game this year.

Hawks’ Dejounte Murray doubles down on prediction for 2023-24 season

This offseason has been highlighted with scenes of Murray and Young in the gym, working on their craft, and even together. It all feeds into Murray’s belief that this will be his best season as a pro, a sentiment he reiterated on September 6.

Murray averaged 20.5 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.3 rebounds last season, an admittedly rocky inaugural season in Atlanta

He shot 34.4% from beyond the arc – the third-highest mark of his career – on a career-high 5.2 attempts per game last season. Murray was shooting 37.3% on 5.6 attempts up until early March and shot 36.4% on pull-up threes on the year – his shooting was much better than advertised for the Hawks.

If the Hawks are going to take a step forward this coming season, it’s going to be because Murray and Young, not only figured out how to play off of each other but also because they figured out how to consistently be the best versions of themselves.