Zion Williamson is EA’s official cover athlete for NBA 2K21 on next-gen consoles. The developer earlier announced that Damian Lillard will grace the game’s cover for its current-generation releases.
While its existence came as no surprise, NBA 2K21 was formally announced at one of the highest profile game reveal events of the summer, during Sony’s Future of Gaming show. Little has been revealed about the game so far, with only a short trailer to mark its unveiling. Williamson appeared in the PlayStation 5 trailer for NBA 2K21 shown at the event, making him seem like a likely pick for the game’s cover athlete even before the official announcement.
Williamson’s pick as NBA 2K21’s cover athlete was announced with a short trailer on the NBA 2K Twitter account. He will appear on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game. Williamson is widely viewed as one of the most promising rising stars in the NBA, making him a natural choice for NBA 2K’s next-generation titles. In the announcement tweet’s replies, fans are split on the decision. While plenty of fans sounded off in support of Williamson, others argue that it’s too early, given that he only played 19 games in his rookie season before being taken out due to a knee injury. As with its earlier announcement of Lillard as the current-gen cover athlete, the reveal didn’t come with any additional information about the next installment of the NBA 2K franchise. The final cover athlete for NBA 2K21 will be announced on Thursday, July 2nd, with many speculating that Kobe Bryant’s image will appear on the game’s Legend Edition.
Being chosen as a cover athlete is a way to honor the selected players, but the NBA 2K franchise itself isn’t held in the highest regard these days. NBA 2K20 received middling reviews from critics, with many citing a lack of new meaningful improvements from previous editions. Reviews from players were even harsher, as the game was subject to a review bombing campaign and widespread complaints about bugs and what many saw as predatory microtransactions.
Although Zion Williamson is much newer to the NBA than the other players who fans speculated would appear on NBA 2K21’s cover, it’s hard to argue with the decision to make him a cover athlete. Williamson’s stellar performance up to this point has basketball fans excited in a way that few players can achieve, and that excitement is just what EA needs to pull the NBA 2K franchise out of its slump.
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Source: NBA 2K/Twitter