NBA 2K25 has broken a franchise record with its recent release, seeing WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark receiving the highest rookie rating in the series’ history. The launch of the newest iteration of the annual basketball franchise from 2K brought plenty of major changes to this year’s title, looking to improve several aspects of the game. NBA 2K25‘s “The City” mode saw multiple updates from the previous year’s game, scaling down the size of the free-roam game mode but adding more to do. Now, a new addition to the game is breaking a franchise record by a wide margin.
While the WNBA has often played second-fiddle to the men’s counterpart in terms of popularity, one 2024 rookie set the league on fire with her debut. Caitlin Clark was one of the hottest stories in sports throughout the year, coming off a star-studded college career that saw her win the AP Player of the Year Award in her junior and senior year. Clark made an immediate impact in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever, winning Rookie of the Month in May and already breaking records as a rookie. Caitlin Clark now has an NBA 2K25 record in her books.
NBA 2K25 fans get their first look at the debuting Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese as their official character models are officially revealed.
The official release of NBA 2K25 would see Caitlin Clark smash through an in-game record in only her first appearance in the franchise. Caitlin Clark’s in-game appearance breaks the franchise record for ratings for a rookie player, with Clark rated at a staggering 91 overall according to NBA 2K database 2KRatings. Clark holds particularly high individual scores for Outside Scoring and Playmaking, sitting at 90 and 88 ratings respectively. The record was previously broken in last year’s entry by Victor Wenbanyama, with a rating of 84.
Caitlin Clark Rookie Rating Breaks NBA 2K Record
Caitlin Clark’s monumental status within the NBA 2K franchise comes as the developer has pushed more of a focus onto the WNBA throughout recent years. The games have increasingly featured WNBA stars in both promotional material and in-game content, with each game now offering a WNBA edition featuring women’s stars on the cover. NBA 2K has also significantly expanded the WNBA’s game modes, expanding the Career mode for the WNBA in NBA 2K24.
The addition of Caitlin Clark as a rookie in NBA 2K25 was not the only major rookie to join the massively popular basketball franchise this year. 2K25 saw the first introduction of Bronny James, son of NBA legend LeBron James, to the NBA 2K franchise as a rookie.
While Bronny does not hold a candle to Caitlin Clark’s 91 overall rating, the rookie comes into the game with a 68 overall rating, particularly impressing with his Athleticism score at 83. Caitlin Clark’s introduction to NBA 2K25 serves as a huge milestone for the growing popularity of the WNBA.
