[Charania] San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama is the NBA cover athlete, per sources.
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama is the NBA 2 K 27 cover athlete, per sources.
https://www.espn.ph/contributor/shams-charania/b775d84ddfc97
Remember the cover is probably made official early in the year, probably before March, before people say it should’ve been Brunson. 2k early in the year can’t predict who wins the championship or not. Wemby still would’ve been the cover with the decision made early in the year even if OKC won the west, and the Spurs didn’t make it to the finals
I’m suprised this is even a story now because I remember hearing Wemby would be on the cover before the playoffs even started. That must’ve been a leak tho.
It’s not like he was some dark horse, even without the leak if kinda Sumer they’d put the future face of the nba out there
It’s also just funny to me that people even get upset about something like this. People treat it like some meritocracy or an official award. It’s a video game cover where a video game company picks who they think will help sell video games. It just doesn’t matter.
yeah I don’t play video games but it feels like there’s not a lot of viable options for it… my list would be like Wemby, SGA, Luka, Jokic, Ant, Cade. But it looks like SGA and Luka have already been covers? And Jokic isn’t charistmatic
So really IMO I would have guessed Wemby, Ant, or Cade… and Wemby is clearly the option of those 3
My only gripe is that post play sucks in 2K and you’re featuring it.
Jokic has never been on the cover. Booker, Lillard, Luka, Zion, AD were cover athletes not too long ago. Only the last two years has the cover athlete been from the championship team, and that’s basically a coincidence. SGA won MVP, FMVP, and a title on the same year - his first ones of each too so he was the most talked about star in the year. Tatum was on the cover over the guy who won FMVP for the Celtics. Literally no correlation between FMVP and cover athlete.
It’s a story because it’s a Wednesday morning in the dead of summer, post FA, post summer league, and the cover athlete just lost 4-1 in the finals.
You wonder why it’s a story?
it was leaked in april that he was the cover athlete
“Leaked” or people guessed because it was so obvious since he’s the most popular player who’s not of retirement age by a massive margin.
No it was leaked.
It also doesn’t matter who wins
Duncan won 1 million games and 5 titles and was never on the 2k cover
Wemby is bigger in stature and marketability than Brunson
He might be taller, too. I’d have to check that, tho.
I’d have to see them next to each other
Will we ever see that though? One lives in Texas and the other lives in New York. It’s unlikely they’ll ever be in the same place at the same time
It’s also hard to compare them in pictures because their body proportions are so different. For example, Wemby has a tiny little head while Brunson has a perfectly normal sized head.
Does anyone have head size estimates?
[deleted]
In this context? Not what you think it means.
Lmaoooo
big, if true.
Duncan was, however, on the cover for NBA Live 2000.
IIRC, that was also the first NBA Live game to officially have Michael Jordan in it. Although he was technically in Live 96, but it wasn’t official and you had to use a sort of “cheat” to play as him (and other all-time greats).
I remember when sports games had competition. NBA Live, NBA Street, FOX Sports NBA ‘97 (with /r/nba legend Doc Rivers on the call!).
NBA Street vol. 2 is a perfect game.
I remember when NBA Live was the premier NBA game in the early 2000’s. Couldn’t believe it when my friend said 2K surpassed them.
Tony Parker was!
It should still be Wemby regardless lol.
I swear to god man, this is the only fucking sports league where losing in the first round is less bad for your legacy than making it to the Finals.
Thank you lol. Wemby is out of the BITW combo despite unambiguously preforming better by any statistical metric or advanced stat in the playoffs than Jokic and Shai, the two top BITW candidates. Just because he made it to the finals and gets punished for it lol. Hell he was the best postseason performer period by most metrics, sometimes the finals are just a bad matchup for you, you underperform relative to previous rounds due to the nerves, exhaustion etc but you are so beneficial overall in the playoffs that statistically you improve your teams odds of winning the chip more than any other postseason player.
It’s not even like he was bad in the finals either, his team just couldn’t hold it together when he was off the courts so he was just exhausted from playing so much
Thank you for stating this. The reigning Finals MVP did not make the cover up until 2K25, so there’s no snub whatsoever.
Forget Brunson, there were people who thought they were going to announce where Lebron was going through this.
also it’s not always the champion. tatum and sga have gotten that distinction but they had also led their teams to best record in wins, okc did it again this year so why not wemby?
This doesn’t fit my narrative.
LOL
And even if it wasn’t it’s not something that just goes to the best player on the best team.
It could still go to any of the top players in the league.
And there are so many different versions of the 2k cover that it’s not out of the realm of possibility he or the Knicks as a whole get on one of those.
lol. Brunson is probably 5% as popular and marketable as Wemby rn.
God forbid they take a random top 5 player and put them on it. If it was ANT that would be fine too.
People saying Brunson was robbed as if this is some sort of official performance-based award
The guy on the cover of NHL 27 wasn’t even in the playoffs. It’s a nothingburger lol
They had Zion on the cover after his rookie year where he played 24 games and missed the postseason. This is nothing guys like Kawhi and Joker have never graced the cover
Only player I can think of which is clearly the best in their sport and is the cover athlete this year is the greatest QB in history Caleb Williams.
I feel like you may be biased
I know that you are being sarcastic so you get my upvote
The Wisconsin Bears keep winning SMH
Madden had Peyton Hillis on it one year. He wasn’t even the best running back in his division
One of my favorite one year wonders ever
Yea plus Wemby is elite and very relevant to the season its not like they put MPJ
If it was performance-based Wemby over Brunson would still hold water
also as if these people actually care at all about this and just wanna have the opportunity to shit on wemby again after not doing so for a month
Even then Brunson was good but didnt have a transcendent playoffs run. He had an amazing game 4 and was clutch in 4th quarters but his performance overall gets a bit overblown.
*Game 5
He nearly botched the comeback in Game 4 after bricking two late shots, only for OG to save the day with a timely block on Fox after Brick #1, and a timely tip-in after Brick #2. It was a defensive series and it still feels off that the MVP went to the guy who wasn’t impactful on that end over two guys who really defanged our offense (OG and KAT).
That wrist injury clearly had an effect on him, because shooting 42% from the field is well below his standards
Yeah mb game 4 was more the spurs collapsing….don’t want to watch this game again.
Seriously. They pick this far in advance and it just so happened to align with winning a ring for Tatum and SGA.
If you go back we had Booker in 23, Luka in 22, Lillard in 21… fucking Celtics Kyrie on 18…
That’s about to be one long ass cover
It folds out.
it folds in then out
No they just won’t have physical discs
Can you imagine not having a physical release? Lmao
Oh wait
That’s gonna be a long ass screen panel when selecting the game on the online digital store
It’s gonna be a CVS receipt
Lol
Maybe it’ll be called the runner up edition
Damn! 1 chip in 50-some years and y’all got jokes now.
I admit, I laughed. Have a very reluctant upvote.
It’s just him from the shoulders to knees
PS1 longboxes coming back.
Long long maaaaaaaaannnnn!
Can’t wait for another game for microtransactions, a roster update, no other meaningful updates, and paying 70 bucks again for it
So don’t buy it then. I haven’t bought a 2K game in like a decade, it’s really easy to not do
I tried 2K when it was free with my PS Plus account. My player was so bad compared to the earlier, non micro transaction games. I deleted it and haven’t looked back.
I haven’t played My Player in years at this point. It’s just not fun.
But I wanna do quests for Jake from State Farm and be rewarded with a red State Farm shirt ☹️
100%
Anything after 2k16 was a huge waste of money.
I’ll always love the PS4 edition of 2k14, that was by far the best version they’ve ever released.
I still play 2k13 lmao, so much more fun
so don’t
Oh they will, I generally buy it every other year around this time and get it for 5-8 bucks. Updated rosters, slightly better graphics etc worth it to me for that price.
Blame the community for being ok with spending hundreds of dollars so that they can actually compete in an online setting.
There is zero point of buying the game over and over if you only plan on playing offline.
To reiterate this, I bought 2k26 for $10 abt a month and a half ago, put 150 hours in offline. Dont buy at launch.
Same shit I just did. Snagged it like 3 days ago for $10 it’s still on sale I think. I only play MyGM/MyNBA anyway.
same stupid ass animations
same Kemba/Jimmy/DBook spammers
Don’t forget the shitty mycareer story that barely has anything to do with basketball
I mean to be fair it’s not like anyone plays mycareer for the story they mainly hop straight into online modes.
I used to. I quit when the park shit started getting prioritized over the NBA games.
Do they still have a story? I’ve been playing mycareer on 2K26 and haven’t been presented with any choices so far. I loved it back in the day when you would play a few high school and college games. You got to pick which way you’d answer the media and it affected your teammate grade. That was a fun game mode.
The game is not worth $70
But i sure as hell get my $70 worth in hours played.
I only play myGM offline. I wait until I can buy it for \(20. There are very few games I will pay \)80+ for.
I skipped the past few years and got the itch to buy it 3 months ago. Was on discount for around 25 or 30 and even at that price it was still unbelievable how trash it was.
Playstation literally gives you the old 2k for free every year if you have ps plus
Yeah i hate it. Unfortunately I gotta buy it for the first time ever just for the Wemby love. Plus it’ll be one of the last physical releases for this series likely
2K knows they can get away with this bullshit too because the majority of 2K players are normies and would buy any sports slop. Add onto the fact that there’s no competition anymore. NBA Live shot themselves in the foot.
$90 here in Canada! :)
Is that just for the regular game or the deluxe or whatever edition?
70 USD is currently equal to 98 CAD
Regular lol + tax so like $100
Dont buy it, you the reason they keep doing this
haven’t bought it since they got rid of the 24⁄7 mode from past 2ks
I only buy it at years end when the game goes on sale for 15-20 bucks. Sure, I’m a year behind but I doubt I’m missing out anything new.
I stopped buying at full prices after 2k20. 2K has no competition and no incentive to remove micro transactions.
Highly recommend waiting for it to go on sale and buying it second hand. Don’t give 2K your money
That’s not true. There will be updates, and almost all of them will have made the game worse. 2K26 is the worst 2K I have ever played. From 2K10 to 2K25 it was by far my most played game. I have barely touched 2K26. The gameplay is so fucking bad
Just wait 4-5 months and get it 50-70% on sale. I’m doing this for last 5 years, same with fifa
Just wait a few months for the inevitable 90% discount
You buy it instead of waiting for it for free on ps plus every year? Are you dumb?
I haven’t bought it in years lol
its more thunder flairs in here saying it shouldve been brunson than knicks ones dawg 😭😭😭
I swear circlejerking about anything and saying ‘thunder fans’ is just free karma here lol
This thread has like 4 people saying it should be Brunson, one of them is a thunder flair. Literally, there are currently 2 comments talking about ‘thunder fans complaining’ to the one thunder flair actually complaining.
dont fit my agenda
ngl that’s fair
I mean Wemby is simply more marketable than Brunson I think New Yorkers understand that
MyCareer mode is going to start with a Shaolin monk training session
Have to green different stances and moves, if it’s not timed right, your draft stock falls
You also have to read between games to gain VC
It also makes you actually read, you need to answer questions about the book after.
Dude is gonna be the meta myteam player till retirement anyway
He deserves it
This was inevitable because Wemby already feels like the face of the NBA’s next era.
This has been a jinx in recent years, so be glad it’s not your favorite player
I don’t play 2K. Why is it a jinx?
Player that shows up in the game cover doesn’t win the year it releases would be my guess, there’s actually a similar jinx in MMA, whichever fighter is in the cover of the UFC games is usually doomed
Makes sense, he’s going to be the most popular player of this generation by far most likely
We already knew this
Knicks fans aren’t upset enough about Dillon Jones being snubbed here
Brunson facing off vs Wemby would have been cool. Like Polamalu-Fitzgerald on Madden 10.
Was the biggest Finals in a few years, capitalize on that.
The cover’s made before the finals.
WEMBY IS HERE. STAY IN DENIAL
Yeah, it’s wild how most of us haven’t come around on Wemby yet
my favourite part is that in every highlight thread of Wemby for the last 3 years has at least 5 comments stating “he’s like a create a player in 2k” but then surprised he’s on the cover lol.
um akshually he lost in the finals in his first playoff run that means he should immediately retire from the sport and have nothing to do with the sport he loves anymore /s
Abandoned 2k years ago
The game sucks so much i dont get why people still care about that trash
I think it’s so trash that you can’t use the player you create after their servers go offline 2 years after release so they can force you to buy the next game and make a new one. It’s greedy as fuck.
I don’t know if Jokic will ever get one at this point
Yeah, I think the only Nuggets player to be featured on a 2k cover was Gallinari. Fun question to be asked on trivia night.
This made me remember that Dennis shröder was on a 2K cover
Scottie Barnes got robbed damn :/
Nobody has represented the league’s future more than Wemby so this cover just feels right.
Yup idgi, Wemby was the one making headlines last season from December onwards. The guy made the All Star game exciting and made the MVP race fierce af even tho SGA was the clear favorite.
Feels like the easiest cover athlete choice they’ve made in years because Wemby is already the face of the league’s future.
Fuck Brunson. Wemby is face of league right now
This year, Brunson won the NBA Cup, NBA Cup MVP, Eastern Conference Championship, ECF MVP, lifted the Larry O, and won Finals MVP. He’s the star player in the biggest market in the NBA and he just ended their 53-year championship drought.
So far, Wemby is tall and beat the Thunder. You’re regurgitating a media narrative amplified by the NBA and ESPN, to expand the international market, and Nike, to sell shoes. “Face of the league” doesn’t mean anything if it’s totally divorced from accolades. And if you want to talk influence, guess who just followed in Brunson’s footsteps and took a pay cut to give his front office more cap flexibility?
Dude also tarnished his brand in the immediate term by acting like a complete dick for the entire playoffs, to boot. You’re Simply Wrong on all fronts, bro. If 2k had a crystal ball back in the spring, Brunson would have been the cover athlete without question.
If he stays healthy, I have no doubt Wemby will be the face of the league someday, but he’s just not there yet by any metric. They’re jumping the gun on pushing him as such because, again, he’s a corporate wet dream for a number of shareholders. Don’t be fooled
They can put tall ass Wemby in there but cant with Brunson’s big ass head damn
Don’t support these predatory games.
Good for him, Duncan only got to be a cover pic one time and its not even 2k, it was NBA Live 2000 when the Spurs beat the Knicks and Duncan become finals MVP. This dude got his ass beaten by the Knicks and still gets to be the cover pic lol
Lebron not joining SA is cray
even ruined 2K’s announcement lol
Welp, the 2k curse strikes Spurs fans
The cover player was decided before the finals. It already hit. Curse not active for this season
Omitting 2k27 from the title is insane work.
The first four NBA2k games all had Iverson on the cover.
Relax.
Is the source: “duh”
Very happy for him and especially for Devin Vassell getting on their even as an extra lol
Shocking
I get it
Still hurts we havent got an Ant cover though
Fellow Knicks fans were NBA champions we don’t need to get upset about the cover of a game that has been washed up for 5 years
With physical media becoming less prevalent these days, these covers don’t really carry as much weight as they used to. They’ll change the app tile image frequently and I’m sure a couple other players will be on the cover of more expensive cash grab versions.
That loading screen tho 😤
they had to make the game case bigger to fit him on it
That’s disappointing. Probably won’t be buying then
The official “runner up” cover I see.
Man just make the game great again. It’s been the same exact base game with a fresh coat of paint the last few years.
All they’ve been changing is the menu design
Them having no competition means they don’t ever have to improve shit. I’ll only get these games on a deep discount
Idk if they ever did this but next year 2k should have the starting 5 of the Knicks. Usually 2k covers would be just one player. But in the past I think we got the one where it was curry Davis and harden. Thoughts?
What are sports games gonna do in the future when physical discs go bye-bye?
Okay but who’s the cover athlete for the $150 version of the game that gets you enough VC to a like maybe 78 rating if you’re lucky?
Let me know when they have more Eras and better overall functionality for the franchise mode (nhl lets you expand to like 40 teams, NBA2K still caps it at like 36). Less missing legends like Chuck And Reggie Miller too
2k and FC players still some of dumbest mfs I’ve ever seen
That makes sense. Feels like him or Brunson were the most obvious choices
Which Knicks’ highlight will 2k rewrite for the trailer?
Obviously wemby isn’t a wrong choice but it’s funny Jok’s gonna be the best player in the world for like 7-10 years straight and never be the cover athlete
I’m sure Knick fans will continue celebrating their chip and not rage at this at all
You’d be so right. We’re way too happy to have to rage about this.
Personally, he can have the 2k cover for his whole career like the Tiger Woods PGA games for all I care.
“We’re too happy to have to rage about this” not to be that person but literally hundreds of Knicks fans are fuming at this lol
im not gonna rage because I already expected this. The knicks are the champions but most of the world hasnt caught up to the reality yet lol its not like boston or okc who we all knew was winning the chip
Makes sense to me. Huge opportunity for them to make him the face of the league.
Aw fuck
Never heard of it.
I found it interesting that Wemby was a bit of a dick during the playoffs. Just every now and then.
not brunson?
Brunson looks like a before shot for Hair Club for Men. I’m not surprised he’s not on the cover.
Hoes mad
First his father and now his son. Nepotism in the NBA has gotten ridiculous. Enough is enough brunson.
^^^^^Iknowthisstuffisdecidedwayaheadoftime
I see they announced the NBA 2k changes
Good.
man Brunson deserved to be part of this. Maybe next year?
what the hell does this even mean? NBA cover athlete?
NBA 2K27 video game
I just realized, only one more game and no more cover athletes. That’s crazy
Does anyone even care? I just wait until the game is free to download now.
them wemby builds gonna go up even more, cuz the wemby is the goat young generation is a year older