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It’s good to be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander right now.
Fresh off leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a championship, the former Kentucky Wildcat was announced as the new NBA 2K cover athlete for the standard edition of 2K26.
The generational run continues
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is your #NBA2K26 Standard Edition Cover Athlete!
Pre-order NBA 2K26 starting tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/1pQTtWOUh2
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 8, 2025
Gilgeous-Alexander had a 2025-26 season to remember, winning the NBA championship, scoring title and league MVP all in the same season. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1971), Michael Jordan (1991, ’92, ’96, ’98) and Shaquille O’Neal (2000) have pulled off the same trifecta.
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On top of that, Gilgeous-Alexander was also named the Finals MVP. Leading OKC to a 4-3 series win over the Indiana Pacers, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.3 points, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game in the Finals while shooting 44.3% from the field. It’s no surprise that the Thunder want to keep SGA, locking him up with a 4-year extension worth $285 million that runs through 2030-31.
A Wildcat in 2017-18, Gilgeous-Alexander was selected No. 11 overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2018 NBA Draft. He was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers on draft night, where he played his rookie season in 2018-19. In July 2019, the Thunder acquired Gilgeous-Alexander in a trade.
Andrew Olson
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
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