How To Get The Gym Rat Badge In NBA 2K21

Here’s how to get the Gym Rat Badge in NBA 2K21. There are a couple of different ways to unlock it and each method will give you the same badge but you’ll have to use it in different ways depending on which method you opt for. In this tutorial we’ll explain the fastest way to unlock and get the badge.

So, what exactly is the the Gym Rat Badge anyway? In NBA 2K21 if you complete the required steps to get the badge it’ll give you a permanent boost to your physical attributes. Once unlocked you’ll get additional points added to your physical attributes.

How To Get The Gym Rat Badge In NBA 2K21

Once you’ve unlocked the badge you’ll be granted the following upgrades:

+4 Stamina
+4 Strength
+4 Speed
+4 Acceleration

What you’d normally do to upgrade your player attributes is to complete the Gatorade Training Facility. But, aquiring the gym rat badge will allow you to skip that all together.

Those physical attributes are vital in terms of determining what type of basketball player your character is going to be in NBA 2K21. Without getting the right attributes, you won’t be the best player you could be. For example, if you’ve got space ahead of you and want to nail that lay-up for the match winning point, you won’t be able to execute that move without the right speed and strength skill points.

The Gym Rat Badge offers a permanent boost to speed, stamina, strength, vertical and acceleration.

Unlock the Gym Rat badge in NBA 2K21:

The best way to get the badge is by playing through the MyCareer mode. MyCareer is a great way to realise your professional basketball, digitally of course. You’ll need to complete the following during one regular season to finally get your hands on the Gym Rat badge:

Play 40 regular-season games in MyCareer.
Win the playoffs and finals.
Avoid simulating all games

When the game was first released simulating caused you to not get the gym rat badge. But the rules have since been relaxed. If you do want to sim some games, it’s important to make sure you meet the following criteria:

You can sim up-to 40 games as long as your up by at least 25 points before starting the simulation.
Play 40 games without simulating any of them, you’re then free to sim the rest of the season.
Only simulate playoff matches once you’re up by at least 25 points.

REMEMBER: You’ll need to win all of the finals to unlock the gym rat badge. It makes sense to practice with your squad before the final starts. If you fail to win the finals, you’ll need to start career from the very beginning and you’ll lose all of that hard earned progress.

I mentioned at the beginning there are slightly different usage conditions depending on the method that you use to acquire the the gym rat badge. If you unlock it using the above MyCareer method you’ll only be able to use it for the player that you earned it with. This means that none of your other players will be able to use it.

The second option is a bit more flexible in terms of badge usage, so this one may be better for you if you want to use the badge for all of your squad.

Increasing your MyRep progression To Unlock Gym Rat

To get the badge and use it on all of your available players you’ll need to use this second option. It’s a bit less difficult than the first option in my opinion but it gives that additional flexibility not seen in the option one.

To unlock the Gym Rat you’ll need to reach the lofty heights of “Superstar two” on MyRep progression, you’ll then see the badge and be able to equip it to your players. Playing through MyCareer may have been a bit monotonous, but it won’t take as long as grinding to reach the right MyRep progression you need.

Unfortunately if you’re playing on PS5, Xbox Series X/S you’ll need to continue past ‘Superstar Two’ until you get to “Superstar three”. You’ll need to keep playing in the city to increase your MyRep, there’s no easy work around available either.

If you’re one of those gamers that, like me, play with multiple basketball players you’ll need to follow this method because the first method will only allow the badge to be usable by the player you unlocked it with.

Before you reach Superstar status, you’ll climb up through the ranks. Each rank offers some great rewards for getting promoted to the next tier. Aswell as these awesome rewards you’ll also be able to unlock and get access to other badges, which we’ve detailed a bit more below.

There Are Others

Aswell as all of the regular player development drills you can complete, you’ll have the option to make use of several badges. These other badges offer increases to more specific attributes. As I said, The Gym Rat badge will increase your stamina, strength, speed, and vertical by four, which is ideal for a more attacking playing.

Some of the other badges you can unlock are:

Showtime
Rim Protector
Pick Dodger
Intimidator
Dimer
Unpluckable
Range Extender
Hot Zone Hunter
Slithery Finisher
Contact Finisher

What is Gym Rat?

Gym Rat is an unlockable and permanent boost for your character. Each week you can get a bonus to your physical attributes by going to the Gatorade Training Facility and completing the challenges in your workout. Getting the Gym Rat upgrade will allow you to bypass this and get a permanent stat boost. This is automatically applied to your character once you have met the requirements to unlock.