How OVR Works in Swish & Legacy
OVR is the single number that tells you how good your player is. Here is what feeds it, how it grows, and why the same player puts up different stats in different leagues.
The five attributes
Every player is built on five attributes: Shooting, Physical, Defense, Vision and Dribbling. Your position and your playing style, chosen on the creation screen, decide how those attributes start and how they tend to develop. A point guard leans on Vision and Dribbling; a center gets more from Physical and Defense.
Height, weight and wingspan
Your body matters too. Height, weight and wingspan are generated for your position at creation and they have a real effect on attributes and statistics. They also keep changing between ages 14 and 18, depending on whether you turn out to be an early, steady or late bloomer, so a player who looks small at 15 can still end up tall.
From attributes to OVR
The five attributes are combined into one overall rating, OVR. It is absolute: an 80 OVR is an 80 whether you play in high school, in Spain or in the NBA. Your rating does not drop when you move up to a stronger league.
Why league difficulty shows in the stats, not the rating
What changes from league to league is how hard it is to produce. The same player averages more points, rebounds and assists in a weaker league and fewer in a tougher one. That is why a 75 OVR can look like a star in a developing league and a role player in the NBA, while the number next to his name stays the same.
Potential and growth
Each player has a hidden ceiling that is set when the career begins. Most players peak somewhere in the 70s or 80s. Reaching the 90s is rare, and a perfect 99 is rarer still: in the long run only around one career in a hundred gets there. You cannot see your ceiling, but a fast climb in your first seasons is a good sign.
Prime and decline
Ratings usually peak somewhere in the mid to late twenties. After 30 they decline gradually rather than falling off a cliff, so a great player can stay useful into his mid-thirties. Staying at 80+ at 36 or older even has its own achievement.
What OVR changes
OVR drives the offers you receive, whether you are drafted, how many minutes and points you get, and how likely you are to win awards. Check our guide to reaching the NBA and the career strategy tips to put it to use.