The mechanics of increasing or decreasing your teammate grade can be a little erratic. You might come across a few plays where you perform a good play but do not get credited for it.
Small and rare things like defending the opposing player and forcing him out of bounds will not give you an increase in your grade.
To clear this up, this guide will teach you how to increase your teammate grade in NBA 2K22 MyCareer including advanced tips you absolutely must know. This will also include actions that can decrease your NBA 2K22 teammate grade so you can avoid easily avoid them.
What is a Teammate Grade?
The teammate grade is a rating of your overall performance. There are certain actions you make that can cause it to increase or decrease. Generally, you would want to focus on getting the highest teammate grade you can but, it is only optional if your focus is to solely win the game.
When you get a high teammate grade, it directly affects the amount of VC you earn from that specific game. Aside from the endorsement deals, salary, and stats, getting a higher teammate grade will slightly increase the VC you earn per game.
Although it is small, it will all add up in the future. Another reason you would want to increase your teammate grade is when you are playing the college phase in MyCareer.
If you are looking to get drafted as a first overall pick, you would need to win all the games while getting the highest teammate grade you can on each of those games. The same goes for the scrimmage you play when you finish the Draft Combine.
Ways to Increase Teammate Grade
| Action | Teammate Grade Increase | Details |
| A good pass | Low | Execute a clean crisp pass |
| Successful box out | Low | Box out an opposing player for the rebound |
| Fill lane correctly | Low | Good spacing in transition |
| Multiple defensive stops | Low | At least 4 consecutive defensive stops by the team as a whole |
| Good shot selection | Medium | Attempting an open shot |
| Poking the ball | Medium | Stripping the ball away from the offensive player |
| Steal | High | Getting the ball from the offensive player |
| Assist | High | Pass to a teammate leading to a score (assist) |
| Find open teammate | Medium | Passing to an open teammate and takes the shot |
| Block | High | Blocking a shot from an opposing player |
| Good shot contest | Medium | Contesting a shot directly |
| Pass leading to a foul | Medium | Pass to a teammate who gets fouled for free throws |
| Free throw made | Low | Making a free throw |
| Defensive rebound | Medium | Rebounding the ball on the defensive end |
| Offensive rebound | Medium | Rebounding the ball on the offensive end |
| Good screen | Low | Setting a screen for a teammate (screen must be used) |
| Good spacing | Low | Spacing the floor offensively |
| Good ball movement | Low | Passing the ball around the team |
| Pass leading to a score | Medium | With good ball movement, if you pass the ball to a teammate passing it again and scores |
There are so many ways you can increase your teammate grade and there are only a few ways where you can consistently get the increase.
For example, you can increase your teammate grade by literally passing the ball to a teammate and having the ball move around. You will see “Good Ball Movement” and “Good Pass” next to your teammate grade when this happens.
All the little things can increase your teammate grade as long as it benefits the team. However, there are a few good plays you can do that do not translate to increasing your teammate grade.
Things like altering the player’s shot defensively by smothering him on the side while another defender is on him. The mind-boggling thing is that sometimes if you score an easy basket, you do not get an increase.
You just have to focus on the things that give you teammate grades if you are looking to improve it rather than winning or putting up huge numbers.
As for the highest way to increase your teammate grade, executing plays like stealing the ball, getting assists, blocking shots, and making an open shot can give you a huge boost.
You can also get a lot of bonuses from these plays. The combinations are listed below.
- Poking the ball away from the defender and leads to a steal by you
- Getting an assist while your teammate gets fouled
- Blocking a shot and making a good contest on the shot
- Making an open shot after your teammate gives you the ball for an assist
- Successful box out and rebounding the ball
Actions that Decrease Your Teammate Grade
| Action | Teammate Grade Decrease | Details |
| Turnover | High | Giving possession away |
| Bad shot selection | Medium | Shooting on a very contest shot |
| Leave assignment | Lose teammate grade every 2 seconds | Leaving your defensive assignment after a few seconds |
| Stripped ball | Medium | Dribbling and getting the ball poked away |
| Bad defense | Medium | Allowing your current assignment |
| Personal Foul | High | Fouling unnecessarily |
These are the most significant decreases that can happen to your teammate grade. The most annoying one is having your assignment score an uncontested basket.
The reason why this is annoying is that when you go fight for the screen, you may sometimes change assignments. This is called a “switch” on the defensive side of things.
In the game, it can be a bit erratic since you can literally change assignments three times in a row because of the switch. If you only care about your teammate grade, you can stick to your man the whole time.
If the roller will be free to go to the basket, he can easily score but, you will not get the decrease in your teammate grade as long as you stuck to your defender.
For the other actions, you just have to avoid them as the mechanics are simple.
Best Tips to Get an A+ Teammate Grade
Play the pick and roll as frequently as you can. If you are playing any guard or even a forward, you can press L1 or LT to call for a pick from your big. The amount of teammate grades you get from successfully passing to the rolling big man for a score is huge.
This is because you can either get an assist, or a pass leading to a foul on each successful pass. The AI will always do its best to score as they have a perfect release on every shot.
Another good trick is to force good shot contests. If the player you are defending does not have the ball, you can sag a little until he is open.
That player will eventually get a pass and you can force the opposing team to either score on you or force a bad shot. This is also a double-edged sword as good players can easily get past you and score the basket.
It depends on your confidence in the defensive end and your overall perimeter and lateral quickness ratings. For an easier way to do this, you can wait for the shot clock until the last seconds and force the pass to the player you are guarding by sagging off.
With perfect timing, you can immediately get back on defense and since you know he is going to take the shot, you can jump prematurely to get a good shot contest. The only problem with this strategy is when an off-ball screen is called when you are sagging.
You might get the occasional bad defense if you do not react on time.
Another vital tip is to increase the game length of each game. If you get selected to a team where you are playing under 25 minutes per game, you will need a 12 minutes per quarter game length setting to have any chance at improving your teammate grade.
You will get more VC by playing longer games as a bonus too.
Final Thoughts
Getting a high teammate grade is critical when you want to increase your draft stock before the NBA Draft. This determines your overall NBA 2k22 performance grade and doing the things that improve your grade will eventually lead to a win.
If you are just in it for the increased VC rewards, it will be a lot easier to improve your player. This all depends on what you want to accomplish. You can sometimes risk losing the game because you are playing to increase your teammate grade instead of letting things flow naturally. In the end, it is all up to you.
