Bow Down: Liz Cambage (Not Ben Simmons) Is the Highest Rated Aussie on "NBA 2K20"

Show some respect to #Slambage.

The makers of NBA 2K20 recently fretted over the prospect of Aussie baller Ben Simmons finally perfecting his jump shot, because it would "break" the way they trained the AI CPU to guard him.

That’s pretty high praise for the game’s best rated Australian male basketballer: telling him he could destroy their artificial intelligence like some kind of programmer at Westworld.

With a rating of 87, the Philadelphia 76er is ranked #21 out of all current NBA players, and #1 among Australian men, followed by Joe Ingles (player rating: 79), Patty Mills (player rating: 75), Dante Exum (player rating 75), Aron Baynes (player rating: 75), Andrew Bogut (player rating: 73), Matthew Dellavedova (player rating: 73), Jonah Bolden (player rating: 73), Thon Maker (player rating: 72), Ryan Broekhoff (player rating: 72) and Deng Adel (player rating: 67).

By comparison, the top three rated NBA 2K20 players are LeBron James (player rating: 97), Kawhi Leonard (player rating: 97) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (player rating: 96). Still, those Aussie scores are nothing to sneeze at.

But what if we told you that another homegrown champion sits above all those Aussies?

That’s because Liz Cambage, Aussie Opal and current member of the Las Vegas Aces, is the official top rated Aussie on NBA 2K20 with a score of 91. (2Kratings.com has her at 92, but as of this writing, she’s listed at 91 in the game. See below.)

That puts her at #9 overall in the WNBA player rankings, beneath Breanna Stewart (player rating: 96), Elena Delle Donne (player rating: 95), Brittney Griner (player rating: 93), Candace Parker (player rating: 93), Diana Taurasi (player rating: 92), Natasha Howard (player rating: 92), Sylvia Fowles (player rating: 92) and Maya Moore (player rating: 92), but several spots above legend Sue Bird (player rating: 87).

And if you placed her in the men’s rankings, she’d sit above Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic (player ratings: 90).

As if we weren’t pleased enough by the inclusion of the WNBA on NBA 2K20, it’s nice to see some damn respect for Cambage, who last year broke the WNBA record for most points scored in a single game (53, including four threes, plus 10 rebounds and five blocks). We also remember her fondly for standing up to a blackface controversy within the Opals team, and for ditching a training camp to attend Splendour in the Grass. This is why her face is plastered alongside Simmons on that mural outside Marvel Stadium. (She also recently spoke out about her daily struggles with anxiety and depression, telling ESPN, "If I didn't go through all that darkness, I wouldn't be able to appreciate the light now.")

We also want to shout-out her fellow Aussie players who similarly make an appearance in NBA 2K20: Stephanie Talbot (player rating: 76), Rebecca Allen (player rating: 74) and Alanna Smith (player rating: 73).

Given that the Opals are the only Australian basketball team to earn any Olympic medals, we're glad women's hooping (and Aussie hooping, more generally) is finally getting the global attention and appreciation it deserves. You know we would never say it unless we truly, truly meant it, but: yas kweens. 

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