Few things in sports mean as much to an athlete as earning the cover for your sport’s annual video game franchise. Sure, they can win championships and MVPs, but a spot on 2K marks that player as one of the faces of the league. It identifies the most marketable player in the league and makes them front and center. Not to mention, it arguably reaches a wider audience than those traditional NBA accolades.
With that said, it’s easy to see why there is so much hype built around the cover athlete every year. With so many marketable stars in the NBA — young guns like Anthony Edwards making waves, veterans like Kevin Durant still putting up high-end numbers, and All-Stars like Luka Doncic finding themselves in flashy new jerseys — the possibilities for the NBA 2K26 cover were endless. In the end though, there was only one option.
Fresh off a championship run, a Finals MVP and a regular-season MVP, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has earned the cover athlete honor.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 2024-25 stats:
32.7 PPG (led NBA)
5.0 RPG
6.4 APG
1.7 SPG
.519 FG%
.375 3FG%
.898 FT%
Previous NBA 2K cover athletes:
2K26: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
2K25: Jayson Tatum (A’ja Wilson on All-Star, WNBA editions)
2K24: Kobe Bryant (Sabrina Ionescu on WNBA edition)
2K23: Devin Booker (Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird on WNBA edition)
2K22: Luka Doncic (Candace Parker on WNBA edition)
2K21: Damian Lillard (Zion Williamson on Next Gen edition)
2K20: Anthony Davis (Dwyane Wade on Legend edition)
2K19: Giannis Antetokounmpo (LeBron James on 20th Anniversary edition; Ben Simmons on Australia and New Zealand editions)
2K18: Kyrie Irving (Shaquille O’Neal on Legend editions; DeMar DeRozan on Canada edition)
2K17: Paul George (Kobe Bryant on legend edition; Paul Gasol on Spain edition; Danilo Gallinari on Italy edition)
2K16: Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, James Harden (Michael Jordan on special edition; Tony Parker on France edition; Dennis Schroder on Germany edition; Marc and Pau Gasol on Spain edition)
2K15: Kevin Durant
2K14: LeBron James
2K13: Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose
2K12: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird
2K11: Michael Jordan
2K10: Kobe Bryant
2K9: Kevin Garnett
2K8: Chris Paul
2K7: Shaquille O’Neal
2K6: Shaquille O’Neal
2K5: Ben Wallace
2K4: Allen Iverson
2K3: Allen Iverson
2K2: Allen Iverson
2K1: Allen Iverson
2K: Allen Iverson
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named cover athlete for NBA 2K26
