2K Announces Cover Athletes, Release Date for ‘NBA 2K22’

2K just announced some great news for basketball fans. The video game publisher revealed the cover athletes and release date for NBA 2K22 on Wednesday. Two-time NBA All-Star Luka Doncic leads the way for the cover athletes as he will be on the Standard Edition and Cross-Gen Digital Bundle. There will also be an NBA 75th Anniversary Edition of NBA 2K22 and will feature Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Durant. NBA 2K22 will be released worldwide on September 10, 2021.

“Making the global cover of NBA 2K22 is special for me,” Doncic said in a press release. “I’m proud to represent my country in a special cover that honors the colors of the Slovenian flag. Basketball has given me so much, and I’m excited to give back and work together with 2K Foundations this year to help the lives of young kids around the globe.”

NBA 2K22 will also feature a WNBA 25th Anniversary Special Edition, and two-time MVPA and six-time All-Star Candace Paker will grace the cover. It’s the first time a female athlete has been featured on the cover of the NBA 2K games.

“The cover of NBA 2K is such a pivotal platform to inspire young ballers, and I wanted future WNBA stars to know that they can be cover athletes too,” Parker said. “Representation matters, so this is a special moment of progress for the sport and the series. To be part of this historic cover is a testament to the growth and rising popularity of the women’s game, and I’m proud to be the first female cover athlete to be the face of NBA 2K.”

2K also revealed the prices for each version of the game. The standard edition will be available for $59.99 on previous-gen platforms (PlayStation 4, Xbox One consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC) and $69.99 on new-gen consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S). The Cross-Gen Digital Bundle will cost $79.00. And the NBA 75th Anniversary Edition will cost $99.99 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

“The NBA 2K cover has always been a vehicle for storytelling and a way to showcase the unique and diverse backgrounds of the athletes,” Alfie Brody, Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy at NBA 2K, said in a statement. “The culture around the game of basketball is vibrant and transcends geographical boundaries. This year, we want to showcase that global diversity via Charly’s amazing, one-of-a-kind art.”