While it's certainly a surprise that 2K made a deal like this

Take a look at: Who are the most highly-rated NBA athletes in NBA 2K23? The honor of being the highest-rated athlete in "NBA 2K23" belongs to Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo who ranks his 97 overall NBA 2K23 MT. Five players have a chance to be second at 96. Here's a look at every player with an overall score above 90:

Five WNBA players have ratings higher than 90 overall. Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson and Seattle Storm star Breanna Stewart coming in tied at No. 1. Here's a look at those scores: No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero and No. 3 overall pick Jabari Smith Jr. are tied at the No. 1 for the top-rated NBA rookie championship in "NBA 2K23."

Each is rated with a 78 rating overall, with No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren, who's missing for the season because of an injury to his foot, lagging by a few points. NBA 2K has evolved from simply another game that was hyped within the gaming world. It's become a major cultural phenomenon and its intersection of pop culture, music fashion, sneakers and of obviously, basketball has taken the game to levels that is unmatched by any other sport. The most recent edition of the game, NBA 2K23, the game set a new standard when it announced J. Cole as the first rapper to be featured on his cover NBA 2K with the Dreamer Edition.

While it's certainly a surprise that 2K made a deal like this, particularly at the end of the rollout, the trend of the game itself probably suggested that this would happen some day. Even with that being said, this wasn't even 2K's idea, it was J. Cole's idea. "Three and a half years ago, in the past, when he was dunking at one of the break times on The All-Star Weekend Saturday Night, J. Cole said 'Ronnie I'd like to join in MyCareer and to help you think of the concept of it,"

Ronnie 2K tells Complex. "I worked with our team to bring this idea to life. It was extremely fitting to work with him. When we launched the teaser Buy NBA 2K MT, everyone thought it was going to have another basketball player...it lets us to be a part of fashion, culture, music where 2K is sitting at the table now."