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NBA 2K23’s cover star is #23 himself, Michael Jordan

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Legendary NBA player Michael Jordan has been crowned as the cover star for NBA 2K23 by 2K Sports. Specifically, the face of His Royal Airness will grace the cover of NBA 2K23: Michael Jordan Edition, while his iconic #23 Chicago Bulls jersey will be on the cover of the premium NBA 2K23: Championship Edition.

NBA 2K23 | Michael Jordan Edition Trailer | 2K

NBA 2K23 is Jordan’s fourth time on the cover of an NBA 2K game after being featured on the cover of NBA 2K11, NBA 2K12, and NBA 2K16 Special Edition. This time around, Jordan was chosen as the cover star once again to match his iconic jersey number with the title and to honor his legendary career with Answer the Call, the theme for this year’s MyPlayer campaign mode.

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“After making 23 the most recognizable number in sports, it was only fitting that for NBA 2K23, we introduce the Michael Jordan Edition,” said Alfie Brody, vice president of global marketing strategy for NBA 2K.

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No other way to do it for 2️⃣3️⃣

Introducing our #NBA2K23 Cover Athlete Michael Jordan

🏀Michael Jordan Edition
🏆Championship Edition

Pre-order starting 7/7 pic.twitter.com/WwVTynbK2x

— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 5, 2022

To honor the match made in basketball heaven, NBA 2K23 will bring back the Jordan Challenge, allowing players to recreate legendary moments from Jordan’s prolific career. Introduced in NBA 2K11, the Jordan Challenge had 10 challenges. Now those challenges will be pumped up to 15, bringing five new ones to account for the moments of his playing time with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, the Chicago Bulls, and Team USA. The game will also have archived footage ,along with commentary from Jordan’s teammates, opponents, and other NBA figures who watched him make history on the court.

The Championship Edition isn’t named so exclusively because of Jordan’s embodiment of the term “champion.” It just happens to be a new NBA 2K edition tier that comes with a one-year subscription to NBA League Pass, giving players access to every NBA game that airs during the season. The prices for both the Michael Jordan Edition and the Championship Edition haven’t been revealed, but the latter is expected to be a little expensive.

NBA 2K23: Michael Jordan Edition and NBA 2K23: Championship Edition will release on September 9.

Cristina Alexander
Cristina Alexander
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Cristina Alexander is a gaming and mobile writer at Digital Trends. She blends fair coverage of games industry topics that…
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