For the fourth time, Michael Jordan will be on the cover of the NBA 2K gaming series as he is set to appear as the face of NBA 2K23 and NBA 2K23 championship edition. So, in other words, MJ will be the face of the NBA once more.
This is a great idea from 2K to have Michael Jordan be the face for this year’s game cover as the traditional superstardom of the NBA is changing before our eyes.
With the superstars of the past decade, such as LeBron, KD, Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, etc., all in their 30’s now, it only makes sense for the 2K developers to prep the NBA gaming fandom with a legend before they market younger talent.
They have already started doing this by having Luka Doncic as the cover of NBA 2K22 and Giannis as the cover of NBA 2K19, but guys like Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Darius Garland, LaMelo Ball, and Trae Young all probably need one more year before they should be featured regularly.
Besides, who doesn’t love to see MJ try to chase down another NBA record. Well, an NBA 2k record, actually.
With this being Michael Jordan’s 4th appearance as the cover athlete of NBA 2K series, he is now only one more appearance away from tying Allen Iverson’s all-time record of 5 (NBA 2K, NBA 2K1, NBA 2K2, NBA 2K3, NBA 2K4) NBA 2K covers.
Now, this may not seem to be that important to anyone else. But knowing how Michael Jordan thinks and operates (as we saw in The Last Dance), I’m sure he will be calling up the 2K studio directors in the next couple of years to make sure that this record is his too.
Anyway, back to the 2K cover itself, I’m glad they decided to put an NBA legend on it for next season. You really don’t see many covers of sports games (looking at you EA) where legends of the past are featured on the launch-day game covers.
I understand you can’t just show retired players for games designed to capture the modern-day sports world, but having a Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, or a Maradona cover would be nice from time to time.
(PS: Yes, I realize that Barry Sanders was on the Madden 25 cover, but that was only for an anniversary celebration.)
Anyway, I’m just glad 2K has showcased MJ again, and I hope NBA 2K23 is just as great as its cover athlete.
Images Source: Featured Image: (2K/Take-Two Interactive) (2K on Twitter: “Give it up for His Airness 🐐 Introducing our #NBA2K23 Cover Athlete Michael Jordan 🏀Michael Jordan Edition 🏆Championship Edition Pre-order starting 7/7 https://t.co/fHAxXE1ihl” / Twitter)
