The Phoenix Suns, by an almost a minuscule margin, had the third-best defense of the regular season last year however they could've been first. A united effort is essential to sustain this MT 2K23 level of excellence over the course of 82 games. Fourth-year forward Mikal Bridges played a vital part in the process. Not only did he participate in every single game, but probably the most instrumental defender on the squad.

However, that's not shown in his overall or the perimeter defense rating. His overall score didn't improve from 2K22 - it was at 83. And his perimeter defense rating is the 82 (A-minus) This is 2nd on the team, just behind Chris Paul's 90. For someone who finished second in Defensive Player of The Year awards last year these two numbers are likely to be higher.

Moving on to one of the players that is under-rated in the NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kenrich Williams is next due to two reasons. One is the perimeter defense, which is where the 27-year-old has earned an image in Oklahoma. He's extremely aggressive, hard to beat at the point of attack and is a formidable player in one-on-one scenarios and, in general, much more efficient than he's given credit for. He's in the ninth spot on the team in the perimeter defense, behind players such as Ty Jerome and Aleksej Poku?evski and should not be.

However Williams has the fifth best 3-point percentage on the team even though he was ranked the 10th best in 3-point percentage last season with 33.9% with 0.8 points per game. Williams' profile isn't totally accurate, but his 75 overall score is a good starting point (even though it should have been 77).

Russell Westbrook's return to home with Russell Westbrook's homecoming season with the Los Angeles Lakers did not exactly as planned. He started 2K22 with an 86 overall but slowly declined following a poor performance throughout the season. The previous league MVP is now at 78 overall, which is third highest in the league and where the season ended at 2K22. It's hard to argue that he's still the player he once was back in 2016but it's quite unfair to reduce him until he's one year and 78. The shot IQ of his is 25. which is tied for the most low score in the game and not surprising at all.

For the sake of comparison, players rated 78 overall include Patrick Beverley, Westbrook's new teammate, Cole Anthony, Jakob Poeltl and 2K23 MT rookies Paolo Banchero and Jabari Smith Jr. Perhaps Westbrook should've started off between 80 and 83? It's not an insult, but more of it's a "How does he keep getting high ratings?"