NBA 2K27 early access kicked off Wednesday, and you know what that means: the annual ritual of players arguing about their ratings is officially underway. The ratings drop gives us our first complete look at how 2K sees the league heading into the season, and for Oklahoma City Thunder fans, the big question was always going to be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Yahoo Sports has the full breakdown of where SGA and the rest of the Thunder roster landed.

And yeah, the star treatment is there. Gilgeous-Alexander sits at the top of the Thunder's ratings as expected, and the gap between him and the next tier of OKC players tells you everything about how 2K evaluates that roster. He's the engine. Everyone else orbits around his gravity, which, if you watched any Thunder basketball last season, is exactly how it works in real life too.

The rest of the roster got the usual mix of respect and roster-building fuel. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams anchor the young core's ratings, and the depth pieces fill out a team that, on paper in 2K terms, looks like a nightmare to face in online play. Fast, long, defensively suffocating. The Thunder have quietly become one of those teams the Park crowd picks when they want to win without drama.

Ratings season is community season, and I mean that sincerely. Every Discord I'm in has at least one channel arguing about a two-point difference like it's a raid nerf. Early access turning a quiet news week into a week of number discourse is one of my favorite little rituals on the gaming calendar, and I'm not mad about it.

Ratings matter beyond the arguing, though. They shape how casual players experience the league through the game. If you only know basketball through 2K, SGA's rating is a signal flare telling you who to watch this season. That's real influence, and the players know it, which is why you get the annual social media appeals from guys lobbying for a boost.

For Thunder fans specifically, this roster in 2K27 is going to be a problem for opponents. In my experience, SGA's game translates beautifully to 2K; that herky-jerky pace and craft at the rim is the kind of toolkit that wins you games you have no business winning in the fourth quarter. Ask anyone who's torn their hair out against a good SGA user.

Early access is live now, so if you want to test-drive the Thunder before everyone else gets the game in their hands, this is your window. Check the Yahoo Sports piece for the complete team ratings sheet.

Drop me your take in the comments: does 2K have SGA rated right, or is there another Thunder player who got robbed? I'll be in my franchise mode finding out if the virtual Thunder can run it back.