NBA 2K13 Ratings: Players That Will Live Up to Their Billings

The excitement surrounding NBA 2K13 has reached a crescendo upon the game's release on Tuesday, and rightfully so: The game is being heralded as one of the most cinematic, engrossing, realistic titles ever.

And as always, the most significant component of the game is the portrayal of the players. Over the last several days, the game's player ratings have trickled out—some of them reasonable, some of them maddening.

As you get started building a team, here's a look at some of the players who will surely live up to their 2K13-mandated ratings.

Andrew Bynum

Rating: 87

New team, same old Andrew Bynum—which is a center nearly anyone would love to have on his team (if you couldn't get your hands on Dwight Howard first). For the second-best center in the NBA, an 87 seems a little bit low, but then again, no one is claiming that Bynum's game is perfect.

For one thing, there are the inconsistencies. Bynum has long been one of those big "potential" guys, but until 2011-12, it didn't seem like he'd ever live up to it. Still, coming off a career year in which he averaged a double-double (18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds) for the first time since 2007-08, it would seem that the time is right for him to get a little bit of respect.

If his numbers dip again, though, as they've been prone to do throughout his career, this mediocre rating will make a lot more sense.

Kevin Durant

Rating: 95

If there was one guy who proved throughout the course of the last season that he's one of the very best impact players in the league, it was Kevin Durant. But like every other great player, he can't do everything himself—hence, the result of this year's NBA Finals.

Durant does everything right—the big things, the little things, all things. He led the league in points in 2011-12 with 28.0. He ranked in the top 25 in the league rebounds. He hustles. He's a leader. He never takes a play off. He's the total package, as evidenced by his nearly-perfect rating.

If there's one player (not named LeBron) to build a team around, in the real world or the virtual one, it's him.

Anthony Davis

Rating: 80

A lot of the 2K13 rookie ratings are all over the place. Michael Kidd Gilchrist's is at 78 while Austin Rivers is all the way down at 67.

In some regards, the ratings make sense; we've never seen what these guys can do at the next level, and by all indications, they have a ton of work to do before they're ready to achieve the same levels of greatness many of them achieved in the NCAA.

But as far as Davis goes, he's going to live up to—and exceed—his rating. He may have yet to play a single NBA game, but entering the 2012 draft, he was already ready.

He has the size, instincts and wingspan to, at the very least, compete with the top 4's in the league. He needs to fill out his frame a bit more and he could stand to work on his shot, but an 80 for someone who was as dominant as he was in the NCAA last year—even as a freshman—seems quite low.

It's hard for rookies to make an impact right off the bat, but Davis has the chops to do it.