NBA 2K made a major announcement regarding Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Tuesday.
NBA 2K Makes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Announcement originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off a dominant season that they were able to cap off with a championship after defeating the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the NBA Finals.
Oklahoma City 68 games during the regular season, finishing with the most wins of any team in the NBA last season and entered the playoffs as the clear favorite to win the title.
Of course, the Thunder were able to dominate their way to a championship despite a tough test by the Denver Nuggets in the second round and by the Pacers in the NBA Finals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for the Thunder last season as he capped off a historic season that saw him win regular season, Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP.
It was truly a historic season for the 26-year-old point guard and the Thunder awarded him with a massive four-year, $285 million contract extension to begin the offseason.
On Tuesday, Shai received more positive news as NBA 2K announced that he will be the cover athlete for the standard edition of NBA 2K26.
“The generational run continues. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is your #NBA2K26 Standard Edition Cover Athlete,” NBA 2K posted on X on Tuesday afternoon.
The generational run continues ⚡️
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 8, 2025
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is your #NBA2K26 Standard Edition Cover Athlete!
Pre-order NBA 2K26 starting tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/1pQTtWOUh2
This is a massive honor for Shai as his generational run has in fact continued like NBA 2K’s post said.
By being named the cover athlete, Shai becomes the first Thunder player to brace the cover of NBA 2K since Kevin Durant did so on NBA 2K15.
Of course, Shai has been heavily featured in promotional material for the vide game over the past few seasons and he will now be front and center on the cover fresh off helping the Thunder win the championship.
NBA 2K still has not released an official release date for NBA 2K26 but pre-orders open up on Wednesday, July 9.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
