NBA 2K23: Donovan Mitchell deserves overall increase after historic night

Now that the holidays are over, the second half of the NBA season has officially gotten underway. For the Cleveland Cavaliers and Donovan Mitchell, 2023 couldn’t have gotten off to a better start as a franchise record was set. NBA 2K23 currently has Donovan Mitchell at a very respectable 90 overall rating. He’s the 17th highest-rated player in all of NBA 2K23. However, 2K should consider increasing Donovan Mitchell’s 2K23 overall a little bit more after he set a new franchise record for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On Monday night, Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Chicago Bulls. A 21-point Bulls lead was quickly wiped away as Donovan Mitchell set a new single-game scoring record with 71 points, leading the Cavaliers to a 145-134 win. Donovan Mitchell went on an absolute heater with a historic stat line of 22-34 FG, 7-15 3PT, and 71 points for the game.

With this legendary performance, Mitchell has become just the 7th player in NBA history to score 70+ points in a game. It’s just the 12th time that it has ever happened in an NBA game before. 71 points is the highest point total in a game since Kobe Bryant had 81 points for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Toronto Raptors in 2006. Donovan Mitchell now owns the 8th highest scoring point total in NBA history.

The performance that Donovan Mitchell put on for the city of Cleveland was truly video game-like. In fact, Donovan Mitchell made a reference to the NBA 2K video game franchise following the Cavaliers’ win.

"“I think I had a game like that once playing NBA2K, but I don’t think I shot that efficiently, but that was in a loss, so this feels that much better.”"

Clearly, Mitchell recognizes that it was a very memorable day in his career and something of the highest rarity.

Donovan Mitchell is a very talented athlete. When you take a look at NBA 2K23, and you see a 90 overall rating hovering around him, that is truly very respectable. However, after achieving a 71-point game, something that only five other players have achieved in the entire history of the NBA, I think an overall rating increase is due.

The last player to score at least 70 points in an NBA game was Devin Booker back in 2017 with the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker sits with a 91 overall rating but has earned that over the years. Even if the rating increase comes in the form of 1 or 2 overall points, it will still be nice to witness Mitchell getting rewarded for his talented capabilities.

Speaking of Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns, the Cavaliers’ next game is on January 4 at home against the Phoenix Suns. It is a shame that Devin Booker is dealing with a groin injury because this game would have featured the two most recent athletes to score 70+ points in a game before. . Given each athlete is only 26 years of age, the battle of 70+ point stars will eventually clash and that will be a matchup that many NBA fans has their eyes on.

Until then, it will be interesting to keep an eye on 2K and see if there is a rating update in the near future for NBA 2K23. If not, maybe they will wait to increase his rating until NBA 2K24 is released later this year. Regardless of if it happens now or later this year, I have a strong feeling that he won’t be a 90 overall much longer. However, given that NBA 2K23 still has a relatively long shelf life, I think it would be great to see it happen in NBA 2k23.