New Orleans Pelicans: Herb Jones’ NBA2K23 rating is a joke

Herbert Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans was one of the biggest surprises in the NBA last season, as the rookie went from being a second-round pick to making the All-Rookie team and establishing himself as a lockdown defender.

“Not on Herb!” became the rallying cry of the Pelicans’ defense, as Jones showed that he is one of the few players in the league who can legitimately defend every position on the court.

He took on the toughest assignments night after night and the numbers show that he was one one of the best wing stoppers in the NBA.

Herb Jones stepped up even more in the playoffs, helping to frustrate Chris Paul, though the shorthanded Pelicans ultimately came up short in the series with the Suns.

Whether it was through the eye test or the numbers, Jones was undoubtedly one of the better defenders in the NBA last season, which is what makes his recent NBA2K23 rating so surprising.

New Orleans Pelicans: Herb Jones’ NBA2K23 rating

Each year when NBA2K releases its annual ratings it causes a firestorm of argument on social media, with fans complaining that their guy got snubbed or should have been higher.

There was some surprise when Zion Williamson got a higher rating than Brandon Ingram even after missing all of last season while BI led the Pels to the playoffs.

But the biggest shocker had to be Herb Jones, who got an overall rating of 78, which is not bad for a second-year player who is still mostly unknown to casual fans.

It wasn’t his overall rating, but his defensive rating that was questionable, as his interior defense was given just a 52 while his perimeter defense was rated at a 79.

Jones is not a big man, so I guess you could say he can’t defend the interior, unless of course you actually watched the games and saw him hold his own against bigs.

Aside from that, his perimeter defense, which was some of the best in the league last season, was given a 79, which puts him in the same tier with some questionable names:

Ja Morant? LaMelo “freaking” Ball? Donovan Mitchell? De’Aaron Fox? You’re telling me that these guys are as good as Herb Jones at defending the perimeter? To quote Patrick Beverley, these guys are “traffic cones” compared to Herb, so what these game makers are really telling us is that they didn’t watch much of the New Orleans Pelicans last season.

The Pels will likely be underrated until they start winning games again, which is hopefully going to happen very soon, but Jones’ defensive rating is a joke, something that I am sure will be remedied once the Pelicans start winning and more people get to see him play.