James Harden Latest, + 2K24 Player RANKINGS w/ Ronnie 2K | Celtics Lab - video Dailymotion

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It may be the dog days of August in the NBA's 2023 offseason, but that doesn't mean we don't have plenty of Boston Celtics-related things to talk about in the depths of the summer doldrums.  From training camp signings and Miami Heat rivals being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to James Harden threatening to hold out on the Philadelphia 76ers and a hefty helping of what went into the latest Celtics player ratings in NBA 2K24, we have a stacked docket of topics to address on the latest episode of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast.  We kick things off by breaking down Boston tendering a camp deal to Duke alum DJ Steward along with Celtics alumni heading overseas and assess the potential impact of a Beardless Sixers on the East. We wrap things up with a chat with NBA 2K frontman Ronnie 2K, so be sure to tune in.  0:00 Intro 1:00 Celtics news, DJ Steward, Kabengele to Athens, Kristaps Injury 4:40 James Harden calls Daryl Morey a LIAR, holdout latest 7:30 East landscape 8:10 Jayson Tatum reacts to Jaylen Brown extension 8:45 Doc Rivers to ESPN broadcast 10:30 Cam covered the Hoop Hall induction! 16:20 Ronnie 2K joins the Lab! 17:45 Ronnie on cross-platform play 19:02 Ronnie on 2k ratings 24:40 Ronnie on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown ratings 26:05 Playing with Celtics 26:49 2k Sim, Jayson Tatum MVP? 29:42 Working with Jayson Tatum 30:10 Victor Wembenyana with an 84 (highest rated rookie) 32:00 Chet ROY? 32:45 Updating rankings mid season 30:30 Who could jump into mid 90s? 35:00 Case for MVP, Embiid B2B? 36:50 Honest takes 38:40 Jimmy Butler's ranking  The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Fan Duel.  Fanduel Sportsbook is the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook! Because right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON!  21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.

Transcript

00:00 Celtics Lab is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS

00:05 Media Network.

00:06 All righty, welcome to the Celtics Lab podcast brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering

00:10 partner of the CLNS Media Network.

00:12 I am Cameron Tiptoe-Tobias.

00:13 I'm joined by Dr. Justin Quinn.

00:15 In today's episode, we will talk about James Harden, quite frankly.

00:19 We will talk about the Hall of Fame.

00:21 We will talk about a new member of the Boston Celtics, perhaps.

00:24 And then later in the episode, I am going to have a conversation with Ronnie Touquet,

00:29 the marketing guru for NBA2K.

00:31 We talked about NBA2K24, player ratings, and I bent his ear a little bit to talk about

00:35 the Celtics.

00:36 So that is coming up in the second half of the program.

00:39 But first, Justin, how are you?

00:42 Under caffeinated because we were recording this earlier than usual.

00:45 Yeah, I'm noticing that my coffee mug is just out of arm's reach because I messed up.

00:53 So I'm going to have to do this sans coffee.

00:56 Let's see.

00:57 Let's start with the Celtics news and then we can talk about James Harden as much as

01:00 we like.

01:01 The news is it's still the offseason, but they did sign DJ Stewart to a camp deal.

01:05 He is an undrafted guard from the 2021 class.

01:10 He played at Duke.

01:12 Perhaps there's some connective tissue there.

01:13 He had a nice little summer league with Philadelphia.

01:16 Justin, what do you think is the likelihood that he ends up on the Celtics this time in

01:21 October?

01:22 I think fairly decent.

01:25 He's got a similar profile to JD Davison in that he probably declared too early after

01:31 just one season at Duke.

01:33 Wasn't ready for the NBA.

01:34 It was pretty evident he's been with the Stockton Kings since.

01:39 He's the right sized in terms of height, but he's very, very slight in the sneakers, only

01:45 163 pounds.

01:46 He's going to need to put on some weight if he's going to be able to defend at the NBA

01:49 level.

01:50 He's just going to be able to be pushed around very, very easily at that weight.

01:53 But still, despite that, he's got good defensive instincts.

01:56 He's averaged almost a steal per game everywhere he's been.

02:00 I've been hearing he's been looked at as more of a shooter.

02:04 And while I do see it if I squint, to me, what's most interesting about him is the effort

02:10 he puts in the defensive end of the floor, which could get him home as a reserve guard

02:13 in the NBA if he's lucky.

02:16 Yeah, he is an okay three point shooter.

02:21 That matters.

02:22 The defense is is interesting, but the size is a little lacking, but he's young enough

02:27 that he could add, you know, muscle.

02:28 I mean, he's not going to build his frame.

02:30 He's like 22.

02:31 I think he's very, very young, so 21 to 22.

02:34 So it's intriguing.

02:35 I don't know that it suggests that there's another move to come.

02:39 But to your point, he if he has a similar game to J.D. Davison, maybe one of them will

02:44 spend more time with the Boston Celtics and one will spend more time with the main Celtics

02:48 or they will keep each other competitive or I don't know.

02:51 I guess we'll see.

02:53 Speaking of the main Celtics, just while we're doing the news, Mufondo Cabanguele is headed

02:59 to Athens.

03:00 He's going to play in Greece.

03:03 I think at times we we wondered if Cabanguele was going to end up on the Celtics team long

03:09 term.

03:10 But other than a few spot times where he got called up, didn't really happen.

03:14 But seems like a really nice guy, high energy guy, strong as anything.

03:19 So I don't know anything about A.K. Athens, but I can't imagine there are many stronger

03:25 players playing in Greece right now.

03:26 Well, that's a pretty big club in the Greek League.

03:30 He'll definitely get a lot more reps than he would, you know, even at the G League level.

03:34 He he's been interesting.

03:36 You know, he's been blocking shots a lot in the G League level, but he actually kind of

03:40 regressed a little bit with Maine last season compared to the season before that at the

03:44 G League level.

03:45 So I think this is going to be good for him.

03:48 Another former Celtic is headed overseas to the.

03:51 I guess he's going to stay overseas.

03:54 Taco Fall is going to stick around in China.

03:56 He's going to play with the Nanjing Monkey Kings.

03:59 He was in.

04:00 What was it?

04:01 The Xinjiang Tigers last year?

04:04 What was it?

04:05 I get confused with them because I think there was like a flying draft flying some.

04:09 I can't remember the name of the dragons.

04:11 Forgive me.

04:12 I can't remember the CBA team names.

04:14 Sure.

04:15 And if you want to learn more about his experience in China, we talked to him last fall about

04:19 what it's like to be that tall in the Chinese Basketball League.

04:23 So if if you're sincerely curious about Taco Falls experience, go check that out and his

04:29 children's book that is attached to that conversation.

04:31 All right.

04:32 Let's talk about Harden and then later we'll talk about Ronnie Touquet.

04:35 I'm sure people didn't click on this to hear more about G League signings.

04:39 No offense.

04:41 Last Monday, we woke up to a video from China of James Harden at an Adidas event twice to

04:49 what looks like a group of children.

04:51 James Harden calling Daryl Morey a liar and saying that he would never play for an organization

04:57 with Daryl Morey.

04:58 This comes a few days removed after ESPN reported that the Sixers were going to bring Harden

05:02 back regardless.

05:05 Justin, I talked to a few people in Philly.

05:10 I can tell you the mood in Philly, but what are your initial reactions?

05:13 Well, the same general managing team that was in the Brooklyn Nets when Kevin Durant

05:20 went scorched earth are still there.

05:22 So I don't expect Daryl Morey to be ousted as a result of this.

05:26 I think it'd be crazy to do so.

05:29 But the bigger question of what this is going to do for the 76ers organization, I think

05:35 looms pretty big because it doesn't look like James Harden is going to be playing for them

05:39 at least to start the season.

05:41 Yeah, I think that their last card they get to play is not really their card, which is

05:48 apparently the Damien Lillard market is so weak that at least they can play teams off

05:53 of that, that there's some sort of benchmark.

05:57 So there's a world where they get some pennies on the dollar and the Sixers are fine because

06:03 they bring back comparable players.

06:05 But I know thinking back to this series they had with Boston, it took two 40 plus point

06:10 performances from James Harden to make that as competitive as it was.

06:14 I don't think the Sixers are going to replace that that easily, even if Embiid levels up

06:17 on his MVP season.

06:19 So yeah, that's not good.

06:23 Talking to people in the Sixers press orbit, it sounds like the team itself is keeping

06:30 their lips pretty pursed and saying we're bringing back Harden and we stand by that.

06:35 And that's all we're going to say right now.

06:38 Fascinating.

06:39 The NBA never stops.

06:40 If this was the Sixers Lab podcast, I'm sure we'd be a little more animated, but it's both

06:45 predictable and familiar.

06:48 And if you cover a team in the same division as the Sixers, it kind of rocks.

06:55 Anything else on the Harden thing?

06:56 I'm looking forward to seeing Joel Embiid's debut for the New York Knicks next season.

07:02 Yeah.

07:03 You think next season?

07:04 I mean, like, sincerely, if and when do you think Embiid would ask for a trade request?

07:11 He'll give them this season.

07:13 I don't think that's all they get.

07:15 I think he'll give them this season.

07:18 Yeah, I mean, if you're right about that, I don't know anything about his relationship

07:22 with Maxie and I don't know what I think Maxie's ceiling is, but...

07:26 It's not soon enough is what the problem is.

07:29 Yeah, although I wonder if Maxie could get them Lillard and if Embiid would be interested

07:34 in playing with Lillard.

07:35 I wouldn't personally be, but I don't know.

07:38 It's fascinating.

07:40 Yeah.

07:41 The East landscape?

07:45 Say what you will, and we did a fan survey last week where we talked to, so to speak,

07:51 Celtics fans and their opinions on what's going on.

07:53 People were okay with Joe Mizzoula.

07:56 They were okay with the Porzingis trade.

07:57 They were okay with the Jalen Brown extension.

08:02 The Celtics look pretty good compared to most of the rest of the league.

08:06 I'll tell you that much.

08:09 Okay.

08:10 A few other things.

08:11 Well, I guess related to that, Tatum said that Jalen Brown's extension was a no-brainer.

08:19 Which we've covered.

08:20 You were technically there.

08:21 I mean, you didn't get a chance to talk to him, but you were there.

08:25 Yeah.

08:26 Justin knows I'm biting my tongue for a couple of reasons, actually.

08:31 Yeah.

08:32 I did not have that conversation with Jason Tatum.

08:33 I was not part of that press gaggle.

08:37 Turns out if you want high-profile access at the Hoops Hall, work for a television broadcast

08:43 is the way to do it.

08:44 Okay.

08:45 A couple of other things.

08:46 Doc Rivers is apparently officially going to join the ESPN broadcast crew as part of

08:50 a larger shakeup that I think a lot of people are really down on.

08:55 I really liked the Mike Breen, Van Gundy, Mark Jackson trio.

09:01 I think that Doris Burke, Doc Rivers, and Mike Breen might be as good or better group

09:07 in a few years.

09:08 I think that there's some good chemistry.

09:09 There's some good stories there.

09:12 The schtick between the previous three was kind of getting old.

09:15 The story does sound like ESPN was just being cheap, but independent of that, I'm not as

09:21 against that as maybe other people are.

09:23 I like Stan.

09:25 For me, if it wasn't for the corny catchphrases, then I could deal with Mark Jackson, but he's

09:31 always been the wobbly third leg.

09:36 I kind of like that, though.

09:39 I kind of wish the Celtics broadcast had a little more personality.

09:44 I guess if you're trying to present it as a hyper-serious...

09:49 My dog, I'm recording in the living room, and you can see into the kitchen, and there's

09:54 two chairs and a table in between the two chairs, and the dog just got off the chair,

09:58 walked across the table, got in the other chair.

10:01 Nice.

10:02 He knows what's going on.

10:05 He knows that it's a lazy day in the NBA offseason.

10:09 Okay.

10:10 Anyways, best of luck to the new ESPN groups.

10:12 JJ Redick, Richard Jefferson, and Ryan Ryoko, is that how you say his name?

10:16 I'm not sure.

10:17 They are getting a promotion as well.

10:19 That's exciting.

10:20 Okay.

10:21 In a moment, we will transition to my conversation with Ronnie Touquet about player ratings and

10:27 whatnot, but I was at the Hall of Fame event this weekend, if you want to ask me about

10:32 it.

10:33 What did you do?

10:34 Who did you talk to?

10:35 Well, let me plug the product a little bit.

10:39 So Justin and I write for Celtics Wire, which is part of USA Today's suite of NBA team coverage,

10:47 and we have a site called Spurs Wire that our friend Jack Simone is the editor-in-chief

10:52 for.

10:53 So Jack and I went down because this was a Spurs-heavy class at the Hoops Hall.

10:59 Also incidentally, a really exciting class.

11:02 If you're an NBA fan of a certain age, Dirk Nowitzki, D. Wade, Tony Parker, Greg Popovich,

11:07 I mean, those are really influential players.

11:11 So really exciting class.

11:14 We went to do our due diligence, but my dog was...

11:20 Last episode, I told you that my dog was sick and he stayed sick all weekend.

11:23 So I missed part of the hall, but Jack was there.

11:27 So check out Jack Simone for your full coverage.

11:30 Yeah, we went.

11:32 We had this interesting thing where, just to tell a quick story, we got to the Hall

11:36 of Fame and it could have been more organized.

11:41 And Saturday afternoon, this is before the event, the entrainment event.

11:44 So we ended up at what was the...

11:48 They have benches dedicated to coaches and basketball of some description.

11:55 And we assumed that Greg Popovich was going to be part of this.

11:58 We were like, "Oh, we'll go to this event because it's an event for coaches at the Hall

12:02 of Fame weekend."

12:03 Turns out it wasn't.

12:04 It was for, quite frankly, coaches I didn't know much about, but who had been really impactful

12:09 at the college level.

12:10 But John Calipari was there, Roy Williams was there, Vinny Del Negro was there.

12:14 So I had some cool conversations with those people about, whoops, about Waman Yama, about

12:21 Popovich.

12:22 And then later, Jack and I went to the red carpet, which was for people who make content

12:27 like us, not a bonanza.

12:29 There wasn't that much.

12:30 And in fact, we were invited to watch the event on television in a press room because

12:35 it was sold out.

12:37 So it was not the bounty of content that content creators might've hoped for.

12:42 But I got some stories out of it, got some social out of it.

12:45 And just as a basketball fan, shelving professionalism a little bit.

12:51 Really cool, really exciting, really interesting.

12:55 My understanding is tickets to that kind of event are reasonable.

12:58 So if you are a basketball fan and your favorite player or coach or whomever is going to the

13:03 hall and you can get to Springfield, it's great.

13:07 Justin, you're high on Springfield, Massachusetts.

13:09 I think you would agree.

13:10 I mean, that's where my mother was born.

13:13 I used to live about 45 minutes away in Manchester, Connecticut, East Hartford, Connecticut.

13:18 We used to go up there a lot.

13:20 But as I was telling you, I don't know anything there anymore.

13:24 It's been like 20 years since I've been in the city.

13:27 Cool.

13:28 Well, all the same, congrats to people who went in.

13:30 Not that much Celtics connective tissue, quite frankly.

13:35 But the Celtics have plenty of folks in the Hall of Fame.

13:37 I don't think it's that big of a deal that they took a year off.

13:40 So let's change gears.

13:44 The next portion of our programming is going to be my conversation that I recorded late

13:49 last week with Ronnie Touquet, the marketing guru over at Touquet Sports.

13:55 This is something we've now done two years in a row, which is great.

13:58 We're really thankful that Touquet Sports reaches out to us because it's always fun

14:01 to hear how the game has been updated.

14:04 And specifically this year, they've done a really nice job, I think, of making player

14:08 ratings a conversation on social media.

14:11 So the conversation starts with me talking to Ronnie about how do these ratings come

14:16 about and how do they decide how to market them?

14:19 So a little inside baseball for people who are fans of marketing.

14:23 And then I selfishly talked about Celtics for most of the conversation after that, because

14:28 this is the Celtics Lab podcast.

14:29 So we talked about Jason Tatum, we talked about Port Zinkus, we talked about Jalen Brown,

14:34 and then also some of their player ratings.

14:35 And then the back end of that conversation is just miscellaneous junk drawer kind of

14:40 stuff.

14:41 I wanted to pick his brain about Wamba Yama, about the MVP, things like that.

14:44 So in a moment, you can enjoy a conversation with me and Ronnie Touquet of Touquet Sports.

14:50 Otherwise, like and subscribe to our podcast.

14:52 I want to remind you that this episode of the Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you

14:55 by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.

15:00 And we will catch you sometime next week.

15:03 Adios.

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15:26 Justin down in Mexico, do you have any team that you're eyeing either for the Super Bowl

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15:30 Well, you know, I don't really know all that much about the NFL.

15:35 I do know that the Patriots were bad when I lived in Connecticut and good when I left.

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15:47 Who else might be a good idea?

15:49 Yeah, I don't know if the Patriots are realistically a good Super Bowl bet, but I mean, the Chiefs

15:55 feel safe until they prove otherwise.

15:58 I personally am just going to root against the Jets all season long, but I don't think

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16:12 All right, we're checking in with Ronnie Touquet, the head of lifestyle and content

16:19 marketing for Touquet Sports and specifically NBA2K ahead about a month away from NBA2K24.

16:25 And let's start with that.

16:27 Ronnie, not only is it the 25th anniversary of the game, but you're launching three Kobe

16:33 Bryant editions.

16:34 So what's the mood over at Touquet Sports and how are you feeling about this launch?

16:39 Really excited.

16:40 It's a big one for us.

16:41 25 years of history.

16:43 A lot to celebrate and a lot to be excited about.

16:48 Of course, you got to lead with cross play and letting the community come together.

16:53 PlayStation, Xbox, doesn't matter.

16:56 You are just playing together and really trying to find out who the best are, regardless of

17:02 console.

17:03 So that should be really fun to see.

17:05 Of course, with Kobe on the cover and getting to pay homage to him again, that's very exciting.

17:11 Yeah, I mean, it's just that time of year where we get really amped at Touquet offices

17:17 because we're on the verge of just dropping a ton of info and can't wait for the community

17:23 to see it and react.

17:25 Yeah, I mean, we were talking about this before we recorded.

17:30 It's obviously huge on social players, fans, everyone's getting amped about player ratings

17:34 and things like that.

17:36 The cross play thing is super fascinating.

17:37 I want to ask you a few, like how the sausage gets made questions.

17:42 How long ago did you want to do cross play and why did you pick this year to launch it?

17:47 Well, it's been a several year journey.

17:49 I think that we've always wanted to do it.

17:52 I think that we just really pride ourselves on doing this right.

17:57 I'm sorry about the dog.

18:00 This is what happens when you have a pet.

18:03 But I was saying, we really wanted to come out of the gate right.

18:08 And what that means is cross feature.

18:11 It's not relegated to one mode like other games.

18:15 It's our entire gamut.

18:17 So that's really exciting.

18:20 But that functionally, there's a lot involved.

18:23 You have to do with two different systems of how they speak to their own consumer.

18:28 So you have the PSN network and you talk through game chat, establishing your own version of

18:34 that, it's challenging.

18:36 But we wanted to do that throughout the game, make it very, very user friendly.

18:42 And we're really excited about people getting a taste of it.

18:45 Yeah, I mean, that's huge.

18:48 When that news first came out, I think that was the thing that people were most pumped

18:51 about.

18:52 I mean, I think the three different Kobe Bryant additions and Black Mamba edition in particular

18:56 are pretty cool.

18:57 And then crossplay like as a functionality features pretty big.

19:01 So it's about a month away.

19:03 And you and your team at 2K have been revealing player ratings.

19:08 And you've done it in an interesting way.

19:09 You did like one big blast with some of the biggest names of the game.

19:12 And now you're kind of teasing out individual players.

19:16 I have a content marketing background.

19:17 So I'm going to ask you about the marketing first, and then we'll get into the ratings.

19:21 How did you decide to kind of do the slow drip on social?

19:23 And are you happy with how you're generating conversation and reactions and things like

19:29 that?

19:30 Like, what was the ideation behind that?

19:31 You know, it's funny, we've obviously done this for a decade plus, and we've...

19:37 Right, like...

19:40 Oh, I think Ronnie paused there.

19:46 So we'll just wait till Ronnie comes back, I guess.

19:51 We'll have dogs barking in the background and sketchy.

19:53 All right, you're back.

19:55 My bad.

19:56 So I was saying, there's a lot of ways that we've done this historically.

19:59 You know, sometimes we let the players lead.

20:02 We put out a call out and say, "Hey, if anybody wants their rating, like, come get it."

20:07 Sometimes we lead with like the big names in the game.

20:10 There's a variety of ways that we've done it.

20:12 This one's been really cool because like, we came out with the rookies a little bit

20:16 and kind of set the tone for the next generation.

20:19 Then yesterday, we dropped all the big names, MVPs, former cover athletes, you know, like

20:25 all the big guys.

20:27 And now we're sort of like starting that everybody in between.

20:31 And I think that there's just different kind of ways to slice that onion.

20:36 But it always leads to the same conversation, which is my rating versus other players' ratings.

20:42 And like, you see a little bit of that percolating on social and people really like diving in

20:47 and getting into the discussion.

20:50 And I just think that it's a really gripping topic when the players own that conversation.

20:55 And then our larger community jumps in and, you know, like, starts like trying to figure

21:01 it out.

21:02 I think, you know, we don't have a 99 club, right?

21:08 Which creates a lot more conversation around like, where these guys stack up.

21:12 We had like, what, seven, six or seven guys at 96, which like, that was really interesting,

21:18 because usually we do have some differentiation.

21:21 But the level of talent that top tier is so high.

21:25 We haven't had this many 95 pluses in so many years.

21:30 But I think this is the year where you're just seeing like the top players really like

21:36 be such a level above.

21:39 So it's been really fun to see.

21:40 Yeah, I wanted to ask about that.

21:42 Is that do you think a product of what the players are doing on the court?

21:45 Or have you refined the player rating system and it's giving you kind of a different tier

21:51 system?

21:52 Like, what do you think is driving that?

21:53 I think it's more the former than the latter.

21:55 I mean, the formula obviously always goes through tweaks every single year.

22:00 But I think it's really like the level of play, especially with that upper tier of guys.

22:06 There were just I mean, there were three guys that could have won the MVP last year.

22:10 And then you have Steph, LeBron, KD.

22:14 They all belong right up there.

22:17 And I think it's quite the honor that Jokic is two steps above the rest of the other six

22:26 guys.

22:27 I think that's really, really amazing.

22:29 But his play in the playoffs and just being a triple-double machine at that size, still

22:35 playing defense.

22:40 Ronnie froze again.

22:41 But that's great, because I can kind of grandstand about Jokic for a second.

22:44 Yeah, I think one of the great joys of talking to people who don't understand the NBA very

22:49 well is introducing them to Nikola Jokic, because he's such an interesting player.

22:53 He's so dynamic.

22:55 Big Honey is one of the best nicknames I think available.

22:58 So 98 out of 100, which is his player rating is pretty spectacular.

23:03 But I also think just as an ambassador of the game, he's been really fantastic.

23:08 All right, Ronnie's back.

23:11 So let's pivot to the Celtics, because predominantly I cover the Celtics.

23:17 And as a segue, actually, I'll reach back to the player rating thing.

23:19 So last year, Jalen Brown tweeted at you guys that he didn't like his player rating.

23:24 About an hour ago, Jamal Murray said something about his jump shot.

23:31 What's the conversation behind closed doors like at 2K when players reach out?

23:35 Obviously, it's great marketing.

23:36 It's a lot of fun.

23:37 Do you ever get engineers saying like, "Hey, get Murray off her back.

23:40 We worked hard on this rating."

23:41 What is the conversation behind the scenes like before celebrating what is great publicity?

23:46 I mean, definitely.

23:47 Obviously, the publicity thing speaks for itself.

23:50 There definitely is that conversation of like, "Why is this guy upset about his rating?"

23:56 That's like, I think, just a general way that you just want to get to.

24:00 You want to defend what you've put so much time and thought into, especially when there's

24:04 a formula that kind of is based on that.

24:07 A jump shot is a little different, though.

24:09 And I think we have some things cooking real soon that I think will make players like Jamal

24:16 really happy about what their jump shot looks like.

24:20 So I actually responded to him and I was like, "I know you haven't seen 24 yet.

24:25 I know you're talking about 23 and that's fine.

24:29 But yeah, it's going to be really exciting to see what he says after we show our first

24:34 gameplay.

24:35 I think he's going to, him and the rest of the community is going to be super pumped

24:39 about what we got in store.

24:40 It's a pretty good tease.

24:41 All right.

24:42 Let's talk about the Celtics.

24:43 So Tatum came in at a 95.

24:45 Jalen came in at an 89.

24:47 I know that you're not like sitting there with an abacus crunching the numbers.

24:50 Were either of those surprising to you?

24:52 No, I don't think so.

24:54 I mean, obviously Jalen has the richest contract in the NBA now, which you would think would

25:01 right there alongside the rating.

25:04 But I think an 89 is a very, very strong rating.

25:07 And it's going to be really interesting to see how he reacts to that.

25:14 Tatum undoubtedly is one of the best players in the league.

25:17 And he wasn't in that 96 tier, but just a notch below it.

25:22 I think he's, he'll be, I would assume that he'd be thrilled with the number that he has.

25:29 And it's going to be really exciting to see two, like outside of those sons, there's nobody

25:33 else I think in the league that has two guys that are 90-ish and above.

25:39 So, so it's going to be really like, that's going to get a lot of people playing with

25:43 the Celtics and it should be really fun to see what the real life product looks like

25:48 with the continuity and those guys playing a lot together, unlike the sons, for example.

25:54 It's going to be fun to see that team kind of blossom and see if those ratings kind of

26:00 hold true.

26:01 Yeah, actually, that's a good segue.

26:04 One of the questions I wanted to ask you is, obviously this is last year's game, but playing

26:08 with the Celtics with Porzingis on 2K, it fits like a glove.

26:13 It's so easy.

26:14 The spacing is all there.

26:16 Obviously, you know, video games can only take you so far.

26:19 What do you think of the new look Celtics?

26:21 Yeah, I think they're going to be a lot of fun to play with.

26:25 You mentioned Porzingis is a really fun player to play in 2K.

26:29 He's just one of those guys and they've already always been fun.

26:33 So I think that Boston's going to be a very popular team in the big game.

26:38 You just got to turn injuries off, I guess.

26:40 We'll see.

26:41 That'll be fine.

26:42 I'm crossing all the fingers I've got.

26:45 So last year, 2K's official sim had Jason Tatum winning MVP.

26:50 And he was in the conversation for a little bit.

26:52 I think that the trio that you identified before, Giannis, Embiid, and...

26:57 The first few months, he was in the first trimester.

27:00 I think Tatum was like the leading candidate at that time.

27:03 Yeah, and I would say deservedly.

27:05 I'm not that much of a homer.

27:08 What do you think he would have to do to win it in real life?

27:12 I think he needs to take his game to yet another level.

27:18 I think Jason also lets his actions on the court speak for him.

27:26 He's really charismatic when you're one-on-one with him.

27:29 But he doesn't focus on being a character off the court, which is great in a lot of

27:34 ways.

27:35 But it is a media contest, right?

27:38 The MVP a little bit.

27:39 So I think that that has kind of limited his opportunities.

27:43 His play on the court has been amazing.

27:46 I mean, ultimately, Boston's going to have to be the one seed.

27:51 They're going to have to put some distance between them and the rest of the pack in the

27:55 East.

27:56 And he's going to have to be undoubtedly the best player on the court every single night

27:59 to be in that conversation.

28:01 And yes, he was close last year.

28:03 But I think he's got to take another step, especially with the level of talent that the

28:09 rest of the NBA has.

28:10 Those other three guys had transcendent seasons.

28:14 And that's what anybody that wants to win an MVP in this era has to have a transcendent

28:21 season to be in that conversation.

28:23 Yeah.

28:24 I mean, he's got all the bona fides.

28:27 But yeah, to your point, you really have to level up to get that MVP.

28:30 And the media narrative thing is not incidental.

28:33 I mean, you have to peak at the right time.

28:36 You mentioned and I know Tatum in a much more transactional way, just like asking questions

28:41 after games.

28:42 But you got to work with him because he was the face of your revamped 2K Mobile.

28:47 First of all, the ad that you guys put together with all the reference to the Mustang and

28:51 Deuce Tatum.

28:52 And first of all, great job out of your team there.

28:54 But what did you get out of Tatum?

28:57 What do you like?

28:58 What's he like behind the scenes?

29:00 And what is the feedback on the revamped mobile been like?

29:03 He's the nicest guy and he's also got such a dry sense of humor.

29:07 And I don't think he doesn't put that out there unless it's on a one on one level.

29:15 And so I got to know him over the years.

29:18 His agency has always been really great working with us as well.

29:22 And so Jason and I have always had a really great relationship.

29:27 And I think that comedy and the elements of that, we really brought it out of each other.

29:33 We were messing around with that like rhinoceros and Mike.

29:37 There was all sorts of stuff on the head, but to bring them in the eyeballs to the mobile

29:45 game and having fun with marketing, because ultimately we are a video game company and

29:51 we want to challenge our community to enjoy and have fun.

29:57 That was a really, really great kind of shoot and one that I was really excited to have

30:01 Jason involved with.

30:03 Yeah, he you're right.

30:06 He is dry.

30:07 He's like he's sneaky, funny, sneaky, funny.

30:09 Yeah.

30:10 Speaking of personalities, I just have a like a couple miscellaneous questions.

30:14 And I wanted to ask you about women, Yama, because today on social you revealed women

30:19 Yama's rating, which it's out now.

30:22 So I can say it's an 84.

30:23 First of all, it's got to be one of the highest rookie ratings ever.

30:28 It is one of the highest rookie ratings ever.

30:31 We had Zion of the 81.

30:34 And then, you know, the ratings scale drastically changed around NBA 2K15, I believe, 14th.

30:43 And that's where like it got really harder was we were adding all the legends.

30:47 And so the rating thing like became a little bit more challenging.

30:51 Since that time, for sure, he is he is the highest rated guy.

30:54 What do you think of him?

30:56 He seems like also a super charismatic kid.

30:58 Super, super charismatic.

30:59 I, I think he was really like absorbing the experience.

31:06 You know, he that first few days in the summer, like we're challenging for him.

31:10 And that's where we shot that spot.

31:13 And I mean, he had just come from France.

31:15 He had had a tough kind of first game.

31:18 He had a lot of like people questioning him.

31:20 And then he had a monster second game.

31:23 We shot in the middle of that.

31:24 And like the guy was, you know, confident, high spirited and just like really a pleasure

31:29 on set.

31:30 And I, I really look forward, obviously, with his tremendous potential to work with him

31:34 a ton more in his career.

31:37 So I don't know how it's too early to know, but some people have pegged Chet Holmgren

31:43 as the person who might take Rookie of the Year out of women on his hands.

31:48 And you've worked closely with Chet before.

31:51 So obviously we're rooting for both of them.

31:53 But do you think Chet has a chance to get Rookie of the Year?

31:56 What is like, what would that look like?

31:58 I definitely think he has a chance.

32:00 I think that team is going to be a lot of fun, like a lot of fun.

32:04 And I think that Chet, like he looks good.

32:08 He, we saw him at Summer League.

32:10 He, he's playing, he played really well in the, you know, the limited showcase there.

32:16 And he just, he, it looks like he's evolved a little bit and that I think he's got a little

32:22 bit of a chip on his shoulder because I think people have sort of forgotten him.

32:25 And so I definitely think that he's going to be right there at the top of the list.

32:31 And he's, he's definitely going to make a name for himself this year.

32:33 I'm a big believer in Chet's game, honestly.

32:37 It's also like classic offseason fodder, but I feel like he, he's gotten a little bit stronger

32:41 too and for his frame that probably matters.

32:43 For sure.

32:44 All right.

32:45 A couple other things.

32:46 So what player, so you talked about how there's that like class of players and then like mid

32:51 to upper nineties.

32:53 How many times do you update player ratings throughout the season?

32:57 Well, so they constantly kind of evolve on the backend, but we generally like do a big

33:04 thing with a new season.

33:05 And obviously we have seasons, they drop every six weeks in our game where we kind of like

33:11 evolve a lot of stuff, our soundtrack, our fashion drops.

33:15 So a lot more content in the city and in my team.

33:20 But the ratings are a piece of that.

33:21 So like that's generally where we, where we do you know, a massive rating changes.

33:28 So yeah, that's, that's sort of how that works.

33:31 All right.

33:32 So you, you asked Roman Yama, do you think you can get to a 90?

33:34 So in theory, someone could make like a six point jump.

33:37 Oh yeah.

33:38 Do you see a player this season that's going to jump into that like mid nineties category?

33:42 My pick would be shake.

33:43 He'll just Alexander, you can take them too, but do you have a player that's like right

33:47 on the bubble?

33:48 They is already at 90.

33:50 So no, but I'm, I mean like really that upper echelon.

33:53 Oh, okay.

33:54 Oh yeah.

33:55 I mean, I think she's the 93 or 93 or something.

33:57 Yeah.

33:58 So, I mean, yeah, we're talking about three points, but I'll have to take it's harder

34:01 in the nineties, right?

34:02 Like there's only so much more you can go up.

34:05 So like a 10% jump is, you know, significant.

34:09 Let me think of a guy that's like in the eighties that could go to a 90.

34:14 I think like the second and third pick, the both scoot and Brandon Miller, like at 78

34:20 were a little, uh, like it allowed them a bigger road.

34:25 I don't know if they can get all the way to 90, but I think like 85 to 87 is definitely

34:31 reasonable for those guys.

34:34 I think Jordan pool is going to have a huge bounce back here.

34:36 I really do.

34:37 Um, he was, I think in 84, uh, in our announcements yesterday, 83.

34:44 Um, and obviously like he's going to be relied on to score a lot and mature.

34:49 And I think he is really taking it seriously.

34:52 And so I could see him jumping into, you know, an 89, maybe a 90 by the end of the year.

34:58 So those are the guys I'm kind of looking at.

35:00 All right.

35:01 All right.

35:02 I got two more for you.

35:03 Um, between that trio of MVP candidates, we already talked about whether it's Giannis

35:07 Yoka, trim bead, make your case for one of them winning MVP next season.

35:11 Ooh, that's a tough one.

35:15 Um, wow.

35:17 I, man, I mean, you can make a case for obviously all three.

35:25 I think I want to make a case for him being to go back to back to back.

35:29 And I'll tell you why.

35:31 I think people are sleeping on the win loss record there.

35:35 And like they had a kind of a interesting season in that they, they had a couple of

35:41 streaks where they lost a few games.

35:42 And I think, you know, some of those games go their way.

35:46 They have a really big win loss record.

35:51 And I think that they'll kind of flip in their direction.

35:54 And I think that they're going to be one of the favorites going in.

35:57 I think like they've had some kind of weird things happen this offseason, but I, I just

36:04 think he's gonna, he's got a taste of it now and I think he's going to take it to another

36:07 level.

36:08 But any of those three guys, for sure, those are your leading three candidates along with

36:13 probably Katie from Phoenix.

36:17 That's probably it's one of those four.

36:18 I would say, I got to say, I think like I'm ready for Giannis to just go and take it again.

36:24 I feel like I would not be surprised.

36:28 There's nothing that I can't do.

36:30 There's just, again, I'm not that much of a Celtics homer, but like when I think about

36:34 what do I fear most in the Easter conference, it's Giannis being fully engaged.

36:38 All right, Ronnie 2K, you are the head of lifestyle and content marketing for 2K sports

36:43 and NBA 2K.

36:44 I want to congratulate you on what looks like a really fun launch for 2K24.

36:48 I'm super excited and I will get you out of here with one last question and I'll give

36:51 my answer first to Stahl so you can think about it.

36:55 I just want you to give me your hottest take for next season.

36:58 And like I said, I'll Stahl.

36:59 So my hottest take is that I think the Thunder are going to be good, like with a capital

37:03 G. I think Giddy is ready.

37:05 I think Shay has been ready.

37:07 I think Chet is going to be a huge addition.

37:10 They still have both Jalen Williams as kind of X factors.

37:15 So I think my hot take next season is it's not like the Thunder will be a feel good story.

37:18 I think they will be a bona fide player in the Western Conference.

37:21 I don't know that they're going to win the title, but I think the Thunder have arrived.

37:25 That's my hot take.

37:26 So, Ronnie 2K.

37:27 Well, you stole mine because I definitely, I mean, I was sort of saying that with Chet.

37:30 Great minds, my friend.

37:31 They're going to be fun.

37:32 They're going to be fun and they're going to go deep.

37:34 But I mean, just to switch it up, I don't think Sacramento was a mirage last year.

37:42 There's a lot of people saying that they're going to drop out of the playoffs and it's

37:46 going to be a disaster.

37:47 I don't think so.

37:48 I think they're going to be a top four seed again, and I think they're going to win a

37:52 playoff round at least.

37:55 So I think Sacramento is going to continue to progress as opposed to, I'm sure you've

38:00 seen that narrative too, that it was kind of like a one time, one hit wonder.

38:07 I don't subscribe to that.

38:09 No, I think you're probably right about that.

38:11 But you can't take anything for granted in the NBA.

38:13 So who's to say?

38:14 Who do you think is going to, who do you think is going to, is an expected playoff team that

38:20 isn't going to make the playoffs?

38:23 Man, I don't know.

38:24 Again, like I'm speaking from fear, but I don't want to say anything negative about

38:28 the heat, but just how many Cinderella runs did the Heat possibly have in them?

38:33 I mean, everything hinges on their point guard situation.

38:36 Jimmy?

38:37 Yeah, that's true.

38:39 That Jimmy rating really got the people going, but I saw what he did in the playoffs.

38:43 But I'll tell you what, I know a lot of people were fired up about that.

38:47 And even when I first saw it, I was like, "Huh, okay."

38:51 But you can't sleep on Jimmy Buckets in the playoffs.

38:55 That's what it's, I'm sure that's what it's based on.

38:58 Like we take the entire season, the playoffs, all of that in a matter.

39:02 Now will he be as engaged in game 12 of the season?

39:07 Probably not.

39:08 But I think it's going to be fun by the end of this season that I think that ratings are

39:14 actually shake out pretty well.

39:17 I think so too.

39:18 I mean, again, he was, first of all, he was very kind in Boston.

39:21 So shout out to Jimmy Butler, the man, but the basketball player is just not fun to play

39:26 against because he's pretty damn good.

39:28 All right.

39:29 On that great note for a Celtics podcast, how's that?

39:32 I got to go get ready because I'm going to the Hall of Fame this weekend and I'm going

39:36 to check out the 2K tournament down in the Hall of Fame.

39:39 Yeah, for sure.

39:40 And don't be a stranger.

39:41 Let's do this again.

39:42 Obviously we have just under a month before launch.

39:46 So I'm sure you're going to see some of these features and be like, "Whoa, we got to talk

39:49 about that."

39:50 Sounds good to me.

39:51 All right.

39:52 Ronnie 2K, thanks for stopping by and we'll catch you soon, I guess.

39:56 Yep.

39:57 Thanks, buddy.

39:58 Thanks.

40:00 [Music]

James Harden Latest, + 2K24 Player RANKINGS w/ Ronnie 2K | Celtics Lab

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