Rookies have to earn their keep before they run off with bragging rights, even as far as NBA 2K ratings are concerned, but some are more fortunate than others. The big ticket trio of Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell all scored 87 overall, several points higher than Kyle Kuzma's rating of 78. No one is disputing that Simmons, Tatum and Mitchell weren't in a league of their own last season, but Kuzma seems to think the discrepancy is a little too wide for his liking.
Even a Lakers subforum chimed in with their thoughts, pulling out a comparative scale between his 2018 stats and those of Boston Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum. Unfortunately the fan rubric doesn't take into account the evolutionary step Jayson Tatum in the playoffs in guiding his Celtics to the brink of a NBA Finals appearance sans Kyrie Irving.
In his freshman campaign, Kuzma averaged 16 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, numbers surely good enough to land him a rating in the early 80s. Funny enough, it might be NBA 2K's new "social media" rating figuring in the overall number assessment which may have contributed to him losing all those points. Only one year into his NBA career, Kuzma is already regarded as one of the league's premier "class clowns."