In other words, this would be the first time LeBron has ever appeared on the cover of an NBA 2K game as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Allen Iverson was the cover boy for the NBA 2K franchise from 2000 until 2004 during the game's first five releases, while Michael Jordan appeared on the cover during his post-playing career on NBA 2K11 and 2K12.
If he were to appear on the cover of NBA 2K19, he would become just the second player during his playing career to appear on the NBA 2K cover multiple times. LeBron has only appeared on the NBA 2K cover once in his career, when he was with the Miami Heat on NBA 2K14 after winning his second title in 2013. 2K is more likely to target one of the league's young, up-and-coming stars like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons or Giannis Antetokounmpo, with the latter two being a strong possibility considering their similarities to James' overall game." "NBA 2K's Twitter account has also confirmed that at least the color choices and fonts match the merchandising.Īs the merchandising says, it is the "20th Anniversary Edition." Is there a Standard Edition and if so, will James be on the cover of that as well? At this point, it's all speculation, but if there is a standard edition, I'd be shocked if James is on the cover. That was the case this year with Kyrie Irving as the cover boy and Shaquille O'Neal donning the cover of the Legends Edition: Mazique continues to speculate that James could merely be the cover boy for the 20th anniversary edition, rather than the standard edition. I'm just shocked that people still shop at #Gamestop ? #NBA2K19 /SAd2b34c5H I reached out to 2K, but received no official confirmation, though it appears pretty clear in the image below." "On Monday, a store manager likely updated their merchandising props early and this image leaked featuring James, the NBA 2K19 logo and art and an early release date of September 7. It looks like LeBron James has been revealed as the cover athlete of NBA 2K19.Īccording to Brian Mazique of Forbes, a store manager at what appears to be Gamestop, revealed their merchandising props early and this image of James with the NBA 2K19 cover art popped up at his store with a release date of September 7: