Opinions are a funny thing, especially when it comes to the NBA 2K League. No one is ever quite right, but you can certainly be wrong. Fortunately for our readers, I am never wrong. You can actually look this up in the dictionary. Search “Correct”, and my face will pop up. Even luckier for our readers, I also get to come up with our weekly power rankings this year, so you’re guaranteed to get 100% correct power rankings every single week. So before we begin with our Week 1 Power Rankings, I guess the only thing I can truly say is…you’re welcome.

(Teams have yet to play each other outside of their conference. Therefore, we’ll just be doing power rankings by conference for now. This will likely change as the season progresses, but this seems the fairest for now.)

Western Conference

1.Warriors Gaming Squad (3-0, +6.7 Point Differential)

After 1 week of games, Warriors Gaming Squad looks like the class of the entire NBA 2K League. Their obscene level of play this soon into the season is a bit shocking, especially on the defensive end. They are holding teams to 52.3 PPG, 4 full points lower than the 2nd place team. They are 2nd in blocks, 3rd in 3P% Allowed, and 2nd in total defensive rebounds. The entire starting lineup are plus defenders and it’s clear that the chemistry this starting 5 had last year has carried over. They’ve put on a defensive masterclass so far.

2.Jazz Gaming (2-0, +3.0 Pt. Diff.)
3.T-Wolves Gaming (1-1, +20.5 Pt. Diff.)
4.DUX Infinitos ( 2-0, +5.5 Pt. Diff.)

When BallLikeSeem was selected in the top 10, there were a lot of questions over whether he could lead an NBA 2K League offense, it being his first time playing Point Guard in the league. He had a great first week. 19.5 PPG, 8.5 APG, 67.5 TS%, and a 2.13 AST/TO ratio in his first two games. Yea, that’ll get the job done. His PPP (Points Per Possession) is a little low at 1.06, but that should improve with time. He’s facilitating well, keeping his turnovers low, and hitting 3s at a good rate. If he keeps playing like this, DUS has a real chance at the 5v5 playoffs.

5.Lakers Gaming (2-0, +10.5 Pt. Diff.)
6.Pistons GT (1-1, 0 Pt. Diff.)
7.Kings Guard Gaming (1-2, -2 Pt. Diff.)

Alright, we’ve finally come to my first “hot take.” Yes, the Mavs Gaming beat Kings Guard Gaming. Yes, I still have KGG over Mavs Gaming. Let’s talk about Kings Guard Gaming first. This team, when they are playing well, is a top 5 team in the entire league. Their performance against Pacers Gaming during the Game of the Week should be a reminder of that. Was it fair to expect a slow start? Maybe. Did Mavs Gamjng beat them fair and square? Definitely. But KGG showed that the ceiling we thought they’d have coming into this year is still there. Could this backfire on me? Absolutely. But something tells me Kings Guard Gaming figured it out. And the rest of the Western Conference should be very worried about that.

8.Bucks Gaming (1-2, -.33 Pt. Diff.)
9.Mavs Gaming (1-1, 0 Pt. Diff.)

Let’s talk about Mavs Gaming before too many angry Mavs Gaming fans pop up in my Twitter DMs. Mavs Gaming have looked fine. They played pretty meh against Bucks Gaming and then the #6 overall pick Zayynos put on a lockdown clinic against Kings Guard Gaming. We simply need to see more. This Mavs team was a relative mystery coming into this season and that mystery remains. Are they good? Are they bad? Are they totally average? Too soon to tell. But, their games this week against Warriors Gaming Squad, Pacers Gaming, and Dux Infinitos will certainly tell us.

10.Pacers Gaming (0-3, -8 Pt. Diff.)
11.Blazer5 Gaming (0-2, -7 Pt. Diff.)
12.Cavs Legion GC (0-2, -27 Pt. Diff.)

I need to put up a bit of a fight for Cavs Legion GC, because they’ve been getting a lot of flack this week. No team is ever purposefully trying to lose. Everyone on these teams is hyper competitive and is trying to win money to better themselves and their families lives. So, do I feel for the current players on this team? Definitely. The overall roster just isn’t talented enough on either end to really compete in what will end up being a historic Western Conference. But, the Cavs Legion plan is in motion. They have 3 1st round picks next year. Is it a bad sign we are talking about 2023 draft picks after one week? Most definitely. But, that’s just the nature of competitive gaming. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. This Cavs Legion GC team, unfortunately, looks to be on the shorter end of that stick.

 

Eastern Conference

1.Gen.G Tigers (3-0, +11 Pt. Diff.)

Woah. These are not the Gen.G Tigers of Season 3 or 4. Elite shot-making in the backcourt, an almost unstoppable transition attack, the best defensive frontcourt in the league so far. This Gen.G Tigers team is everything the offseason rumors said they would be. We heard they were the best team in scrimmages since Day 1 and man oh man, does it makes sense why. What makes them even more terrifying is how much room they still have left to grow. OTTR leads the entire league in total Greened shots (a “green” is a perfect release shot in 2K), yet he’s only shooting 43% from 3. Feast and BumpyDon are averaging 5 steals and 3 blocks a game combined, yet they only score about 15 PPG. This team has another gear or two left that we have not seen. Week 1 made me pretty confident in my decision to predict them to win this tourney. Week 2 will likely cement my confidence.

 

2.Wizards District Gaming (2-1, +.67 Pt. Diff.)
3.76ersGC (2-1, +7.7 Pt. Diff.)
4.Raptors Uprising GC (3-0, +16.67 Pt. Diff.)

2 things can be true. 1. I love this Raptors Uprising GC team. 2. I’m still not sure they are better than the top 3 teams in the East. They beat the stuffing out of Grizz Gaming, Magic Gaming, and Hornets Venom GT this week, but all 3 of those teams are currently at the bottom of my Power Rankings. Good teams beat bad teams, great teams beat good teams. They are definitely AT LEAST a good team, but they haven’t gotten a chance to play AGAINST a truly “good” team yet, so I’ll wait to put them over the top 3 until we get to see that. But in the meantime…damn this team is fun! Do you see Type and Dimez out there? Imagine if I told you in Season 1, that by Season 5, they’d be playing PF and C next to each other and be dominating on defense. BigSaint looks like he wants to set the record for most steals in a season and the most amount of time yelling. Fanta has done an excellent job so far. A 5.8 AST/TO ratio?! From the man everyone said couldn’t pass? I love it. I’m all in on the chaotic energy this team gives off. What’s even cooler is that it’s all happening around their 5-year hometown vet, Kenny Got Work. We may never see him at 35 ppg again like in his MVP season, but a 95.2 TS% on 16.6% usage? Hell yea. He’s been a silent assassin for them.

5.Nets Gaming Crew (2-0, +11 Pt. Diff.)
6.Heat Check Gaming (1-2, -2.33 Pt. Diff.)

It feels like since Season 2, Heat Check Gaming is kind of the same team. We are never really sure if they are good or bad until we get to the end of the season and they’ve missed the playoffs. They are always just sort of, below average. Not BAD per say, but they’ve mostly just existed and been pretty mediocre. Something is up with this team this year, but in a good way. I’m not quite sure what it is, but something is there. The defense, when it’s locked in, is really good. The offense, when it’s locked in, is really good. The problem is, they haven’t played a single complete game yet. Every game has featured them playing incredibly for a half and then looking like they’ve never played 2K before during the other. It’s a weird split. Their game against CLTX was the best game they’ve had of the 3, and you know who was really good during that game? Sav. 23-10, 7/12 from 3-point range. If they can get that Sav every game, they are a playoff team. If we get the wildly inconsistent Sav we saw last year and the year before, this Heat team is going nowhere. The Sav make or break year is here, it’ll be interesting to see how he responds.

7.Knicks Gaming (1-1, +.5 Pt. Diff.)
8.Hornets Venom GT (1-2, -6 Pt. Diff.)
9.CLTX Gaming (1-2, .33 Pt. Diff.)

I mentioned during the broadcast that Celtics Crossover were 1 of only 4 teams to bring back 4 starters from last year’s team. Unfortunately, the same issues Celtics Crossover had last year have returned. Their offense goes ice-cold for really long periods of time. It’s a shame too because their defense and transition game is very good, they just have real issues scoring in the half-court. I have them lower than I expected because a team that brings back 4 players year over year should be better. I have Pacers Gaming right here in my Western Conference rankings too, but they are in the West. The CLTX can still get out of this group, but they’ve got 2 really tough games next week against Wizards District Gaming and Gen.G Tigers. We are going to have a really good idea if this team is ready for prime time.

10.Magic Gaming (0-2, -16 Pt. Diff.)
11.Grizz Gaming (0-2, -11.5 Pt. Diff.)
12.Hawks Talon GC (0-3, -17.3 Pt. Diff.)

Uh, what happened to Hawks Talon GC? This was supposed to finally be the year they left the nest. Ceez + Hotshot, Witness and Putback in the draft, Swann year 2, it was all right there. 0-3. They have lost their 3 games by a combined 52 points. In a year where scoring is down across the board. That is VERY bad. When we watch them during games and their face cams are up or even during a listen-in, they look and sound lifeless. No one is talking, they all seem pissed, what happened? Seriously? I don’t even think it’s the fault of any 1 person, they are all playing pretty terribly. Ceez is putting up numbers, but him and Witness have shown very little chemistry in the backcourt. The Swann-Putback-Hotshot frontcourt has been a defensive nightmare so far. Witness is having a hard time even getting open for shots. It was a really bad week. 3 losses puts them out of the Tipoff most likely, and with games against 76ersGC and Heat Check still to come, you’ve got to start wondering what happens to this team if they fall to 0-5.