With the release of NBA 2K24 now less than a month away, it’s slowly becoming ratings season as we learn exactly who the best NBA stars in this year’s game will be. Perhaps none will draw more eyes than LeBron James, arguably the most prolific basketball star of the modern age. His rating has been in the upper 90s since NBA 2K6, and that trend hasn’t been broken by the NBA 2K24 LeBron rating.
After teasing a few first-look screenshots, 2K has already revealed the top NBA 2K24 ratings with additional confirmations arriving each day. Among those top players, once again, was league legend LeBron James. While he wasn’t able to snag the top spot this year, there’s no denying the NBA 2K24 LeBron James rating reflects that he’s still one of the best basketball players alive today.
NBA 2K24 LeBron James rating
After another hard-fought season, the NBA 2K24 LeBron James rating has officially been revealed to put him once again at a 96 OVR, the same rating as last year. While being stagnant can feel like a bad thing at times, LeBron James not declining at 38 years of age and 20 years into his NBA career is massive.
There’s no more consistent performer over the last few decades than LeBron James. While the nickname King James may seem over the top to some, his resume absolutely backs it up. LeBron James is a 19-time NBA All-Star, 13-time All-NBA First Team, 4-time AP Athlete of the Year, 4-time NBA Most Valuable Player, 4-time NBA Finals MVP, and 4-time NBA Champion.
Those years of dominance have also been reflected in the NBA 2K franchise with his lowest rating of the last 19 games being a 94 OVR back when NBA 2K16 was released. In the following years, his rating mostly hovered between 97 and 96 OVR depending on how each season went. James and the Los Angeles Lakers tried to put up a fight in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, but even a prolific King James performance couldn’t keep them from being swept by the eventual NBA Champion Denver Nuggets.
Down three games and facing elimination, LeBron James turned the intensity up a notch and put up a 40-point, 10-rebound, 9-assist game which almost kept the Lakers alive in the hunt for the NBA Finals. This wasn’t a last-ditch effort late in the game while down heavily, as James also broke his own personal playoff record by scoring 31 points in the first half of that game alone. Unfortunately, as has been the case many other times in his career, LeBron James can’t win an NBA Championship by himself. Even after that showing, the Lakers fell 113-111 against the Nuggets and brought their season to a close.
Down three games and facing elimination, LeBron James turned the intensity up a notch and put up a 40-point, 10-rebound, 9-assist game which almost kept the Lakers alive in the hunt for the NBA Finals.
This wasn’t a last-ditch effort late in the game while down heavily, as James also broke his own personal playoff record by scoring 31 points in the first half of that game alone. Unfortunately, as has been the case many other times in his career, LeBron James can’t win an NBA Championship by himself. Even after that showing, the Lakers fell 113-111 against the Nuggets and brought their season to a close.
King James finds himself tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry at 96 OVR for their NBA 2K24 ratings. Above them at the top of the heap is 2-time NBA Most Valuable Player, 2023 NBA Champion, and 2023 NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokić.
There’s no denying Jokić earned the top spot, but LeBron James finds himself just on the cusp after another strong season. The leaked rating for LeBron James by 2Kratings.com rang true with the official reveal, so it’s likely their more detailed attributes could be accurate as well. As of now, LeBron James will have a near-perfect 98 in Shot IQ, Offensive Consistency, Layup, Hands, and Intangibles.
Even the greats have a weakness, and it looks like that will remain his Free Throw and Three-Point Shot when it comes to offense, as that website currently has both ratings in the mid-70s. When you look at the career stats and how his last season compares to peak years, those duds track. James had a relatively stable free throw percentage of 76.8% last season, which is not far off from his percentages throughout the last decade.
Meanwhile, his three-point shooting deteriorated a bit from 36.5% a few seasons ago down to 32.1% last year. James’ most abysmal rating comes with his 69 in Steal, which makes sense considering how those numbers have dropped for him over the years. While he was consistently ending each season with 100+ steals through 2016, that slowly declined with him managing just 50 steals last season. While LeBron James might not be everyone’s favorite, it’s hard to argue that the future first-ballot Hall of Famer didn’t deserve his NBA 2K24 rating.