In the long history of attempts to objectively rank every player in the NBA, there exists no method so asinine as the NBA 2K ratings.
Every August, in preparation for the release of their fairly fun, moderately innovative and definitely-monopolistic-but-extraordinarily-profitable simulation NBA game, developer Visual Concepts does a massive public relations campaign around what each player will be rated. Main figurehead Ronnie Singh aka Ronnie2K conducts interviews with players and fans about what they think everyone should be rated, even handing out fancy envelopes to rookies and filming their reactions. It’s a major production.
This rating is supposed to reflect how good a player is in real life, and only applies to the “Play Now” modes with current rosters.