Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving graces ‘NBA 2K18’ as its cover athlete

By Steven Petite Published June 1, 2017

2K Games announced that Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving is the NBA 2K18 cover athlete.

Irving received the nod after another fantastic season for the Cavaliers and directly ahead of the start of the 2017 NBA Finals which pits the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors for the third straight year.

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“It is well known that I’m an avid player of this series and I am honored to be the cover athlete of NBA 2K18,” Irving said in a press release. “It’s surreal to be featured on the cover and I can’t wait to dominate on the virtual court with all of my fans this fall.”

While Irving has never graced the cover of NBA 2K before, he was featured on the cover of NBA Live 14. This marks the first time that a player has had appeared on the cover of both 2K and NBA Live while playing for the same team.

However, two players have appeared on the cover of both series, but not while playing for the same team. Former perennial All-Star Kevin Garnett was on the cover of NBA Live 2001 as a Minnesota Timberwolves, and on NBA 2K9‘s cover during his stint with the Boston Celtics. NBA Live 96 had Shaquille O’Neal on its cover when he played for the Orlando Magic and 2K featured him in back-to-back iterations, NBA 2K6 and 2K7, as the big man for the Miami Heat.

O’Neal also happens to be the cover star for the Legend Edition and Legend Edition Gold versions of NBA 2K18, which was announced in May.

NBA 2K18 launches September 19 for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. If you pre-order any edition of the game, you will receive early access starting on September 15. As for the standard edition featuring Irving, a pre-order nets you 5,000 in-game currency, 10 weekly MyTeam packs, and an Irving outfit pack.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…

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