2K Sports and Visual Concepts have just revealed the cover athletes for all versions of the upcoming NBA 2K26 video game, coming out on September 5, 2025.
The 2024-2025 season's MVP, Finals MVP, and newly-minted NBA Champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder is this year's NBA 2K26 Standard Edition cover athlete. This is the first time SGA is on the cover of NBA 2K, and it is well-deserved after his phenomenal and dominating performance in the 2024-2025 season. This is the first time a player from OKC or the Seattle Supersonics has been on the cover.
Another debut comes in the Chicago Sky's Angel Reese, who graces the cover of the NBA 2K26 WNBA Edition. The Bayou Barbie broke records in the 2024-2025 season, becoming the fastest player to record 500 points and 500 rebounds, doing so with only 38 games, and becoming the fastest forward and third fastest player to record a triple-double, recording 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.
As for the game's Superstar Edition, we get a future Hall-of-Famer in Carmelo Anthony. Having played 19 seasons in the NBA, Melo is a 10x NBA All-Star, making it to the All-NBA Second Team twice and the All-NBA Third Team four times. He was the 2013 NBA Scoring Champion, and is highly regarded as one of the best scoring and ISO players of all-time. Despite never winning an NBA Championship, Melo was part of the Team USA rosters that won gold in the Olympics in 2008, 2012, and 2016.
All three of them appear on the highest-tiered version of the game, the Leave No Doubt Edition.
NBA 2K26 is coming out on September 5, 2025, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and Steam for PC.
Copyright The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved