Kevin Durant doesn’t need a video game to tell him he can work the mid-range. Last season, he hit 52.0% from that area and finished at 26.0 points per game. Still, the Rockets star took issue with how NBA 2K27 handed out his latest rating.
The controversy started Thursday when @isportzonetv posted a rating reveal on Instagram. Durant came in as the seventh-best mid-range shooter in the game with a 97, trailing Cade Cunningham, Jalen Brunson, Tre Johnson, Kyrie Irving, Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
That number matched the rating he had before NBA 2K stopped making in-season player updates, but Durant clearly thought he deserved better. He took his complaint straight to Ronnie 2K, the Head of Lifestyle and Content Marketing, posting on Threads: "Ronnie 2k. 2k as a company….I am triggered….97 middy???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????"
Durant is hardly the first player to publicly go after Ronnie 2K over ratings. NBA players have been taking their shots at the franchise’s public face for years whenever they feel slighted by their numbers.
For the upcoming launch, Durant is listed at 93 overall. That’s the same number he finished the regular season with, and it continues a long run of strong ratings for the two-time Finals MVP. He has been a 90-plus overall player throughout nearly all of NBA 2K history, with the only exceptions coming in the first three seasons of his career.
His rookie-year rating was 80 overall. It climbed to 84 in his second season, then dipped to 82 in his third.
Durant has never hidden his affection for the game, either. In a special video on Boardroom’s YouTube channel, he went head-to-head with teammate Amen Thompson on NBA 2K26 and laid out why the series means so much to him.
“I just think 2K and culture have come such a long way in how people consume the game,” Durant said (Timestamp at 13:07). “I think 2K is another one of those ways to get close to basketball and feel like you’re a part of the sport. Everything is to a T - how the arena looks, how the players look, the signature moves.”
“If you want to be immersed in the game virtually, it’s perfect. All the players play it. 2K is life.”
Durant has seen that connection from the other side, too. He was the cover athlete for NBA 2K15, though he hasn’t landed that spot again since.
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Sheppards presence on that list is a reminder of why he matters so much to the Rockets long-term picture. His shooting gives him an easy path to NBA value, and there is still room for his playmaking to grow into something more. For Houston, that makes him both a useful developmental piece and the kind of asset rival teams notice quickly, which is exactly why every decision around his future is going to draw attention. [Read more 🡒]