NBA: Who the 10 best players in NBA 2K17 should be
By Tom West
10th place – Blake Griffin
An injury ridden year and the foolish decision to punch an equipment manager last season has clearly cost Blake Griffin in NBA 2K17. He wasn’t close to making the top 10, instead coming a mere 22nd with an overall rating of 87.
DeMar DeRozan came in with the same rating, while players such as past-his-prime Carmelo Anthony and LaMarcus Aldridge (both 88) came ahead of him.
All these ratings, and Melo and Aldridge in particular, are puzzling. They’re both great players in their own right, but neither possess the overall offensive skill set and triple-double tendencies of Blake Griffin. It’s a fact that seems to have been somewhat overlooked in the 2K17 ratings.
Prior to injury last season, Griffin was at his best. With averages of 23.2 points (50.8 percent shooting), 8.7 rebounds and five assists per game, he displayed his ability to create in the post, operate from mid-range, and run an offense either in transition or from the top of the key as a multi dimensional threat.
If given a chance to run the offense more often to take some pressure off Chris Paul — as he did to an extent in the 2015 playoffs, averaging 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game — Griffin can be an absolute force. And not just as a shooter or post threat, but as an all around ball handler, athletic and skilful scorer, and most importantly as a facilitator.
Rather than being past his prime like Melo, taking a horde of inefficient shots like DeRozan, not being able to run an entire offense and create for others like Aldridge, and being able to carry an offense in a variety of ways that Klay Thompson and Draymond Green can’t (obviously, they haven’t needed to either, but Blake’s overall playmaking and scoring gives him an edge), Griffin shouldn’t have fallen so far behind such players.
If he didn’t have an injured season in 2015-16 and was able to showcase how much he can do as per usual, Griffin would have had a better chance at edging into the 2K17 top 10. His skill set and athleticism warrant those kind of ratings.